


Rewind of Time (Adopted)

by SSDSnape



Category: Chronicles of Narnia - C. S. Lewis, Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, The Lord of the Rings - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Dimension Rifts, Dumbledore!bashing, F/F, F/M, Friendly!Draco, Ginerva Weasley!Bashing, Hogwarts Era, House unity, Humour, M/M, Mentor/Father Figure!Severus, Molly Weasley!Bashing, Outgoing!Neville, Outspoken!Hermione, Percy Weasley!Bashing, Ron!bashing, Sillyness, Smart!Harry, insane!Voldemort
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-09-10
Updated: 2017-12-15
Packaged: 2018-04-20 02:22:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 54,402
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4769939
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SSDSnape/pseuds/SSDSnape
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>The Four Heads of House go back in time to make things better. What happens when you have a smart Harry, outspoken Hermione, outgoing Neville, and friendly Draco? What happens to Dumbledore and Voldemort? Harry and company strive to live and drive the two old fools totally insane. Featuring helpful Heads, united houses. Bashing of certain characters and total insanity all round.</i>
</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Time is a Mysterious Thing

**Author's Note:**

  * For [StormyFireDragon](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=StormyFireDragon).



> This story was originally written by StormyFireDragon over on fanfiction.net. Chapters 1-7 belong to StormyFD, who has kindly agreed to let me take over this great story. 
> 
> All things Harry Potter solely belong to JK Rowling.  
> The plot & humour from chapters 1-7 solely belongs to StormyFireDragon.  
> The plot from chapter 8 onwards is totally 'Mucked About' with, and solely belongs to SSDSnape.

Severus Snape, Minerva McGonagall, Filius Flitwick, and Pomona Sprout all landed with a thud. They quickly checked on each other to make sure that the all arrived safe and sound. Taking a deep breath, they took in their surroundings and realized that they were in Diagon Alley.  
"It would appear that Harry, Hermione, Luna, and Draco were successful in their endeavor," remarked Severus speaking first. "I will be saddened by their deaths, but their success will enable us to help the four of them get better lives this time around in THIS timeline. Their power levels were more amazing than ever with everything that was wrong with them physically thanks to Dumbledore and the Dark Lord."

"Their sacrifice will not go unrewarded," assured Pomona patting him gently on the arm. "Too many people hurt Harry and his friends in the old timeline. This will include the Weasleys, Dumbledore, and the Dark Lord. This is especially so of the Dursleys. We have to stop those that will hurt the group. We have to make sure that they don't get hurt again. What are we going to do? Where do we start?"  
"We have to start by finding out what day it is for sure," stated Filius. "Once we do that, we need to be on the lookout for Hagrid and Harry. We can assist the teens better once we know where they are and what is going on and so forth. We can split up and guide the teens. Luna isn't due to start Hogwarts until next year, but we can see about getting her in early. Her birthday is just days after the cutoff. I can petition to have her start anyway."

"I'll be with Hermione if this is the day we think it is," said Minerva. "Draco will be alright with his parents. We need someone to intercept Hagrid and get Harry away from him. While he is a good guy, his loyalty to Albus is too strong at this time. We need to make sure we get a few things done. The four teens need to be in different houses if at all possible. This will assist in getting the unity that is needed to stop the two old fools from destroying the castle again. Getting a couple more students and their families into the plan will also work."  
"Draco will still be in Slytherin," stated Severus. "That's the only house his family has ever been in with the exception of Sirius and Nymphadora. Luna can stay with Ravenclaw as her family is of the bloodline. We just have to make sure that she doesn't get bullied anymore. Hermione can stay with Gryffindor as she is the most intelligent other than Harry in that house. This means that we have to get Harry into a house other than Gryffindor or Slytherin. While he carries the blood of both, we don't want him in the rivalry between the two. It will be easier to help him if he is in Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff."

"We have to make sure that we figure out a way to get him away from the Dursleys while we are doing all of this," hissed Minerva. "They have been beating on Harry since he was left with them. I warned Albus not to leave them and he did it anyway. I ought to beat on Albus and see how he likes it. Harry will need a full medical scan and potions to help his body. If I remember right, he told me that Petunia hit him in the head with a frying pan. This would explain his need for glasses."

"We are on the right day," said Filius pointing to a newspaper. "We should be seeing Harry and Hagrid at any time now. Pomona, why don't you go to Ollivander and tell him that no matter what, Harry is NOT to get the holly and phoenix feather wand. Tell him that you overheard Dumbledore saying that he will use that wand to keep tabs on Harry. If we have to get one custom made for Harry we will, but I want him to have a wand for him and not one that Dumbledore spelled to keep him in line. Swear an oath that Dumbledore did something to the wand. That will cause him to snap it to keep everyone out of harm's way."  
"I'll be back soon with Hermione," said Minerva leaving. "I'm already late. We can have all teens together to do their shopping. Have Lucius and Narcissa meet us at the bank. You are good at working with the Malfoy family, Severus. They might listen to you if you tell them what you know regarding Harry and the other teens. Lucius is a powerhouse in the Ministry of Magic right now. With his help, we can get just about anything done."

"I can actually use this to our advantage as well," remarked Severus as the two women left. "With Harry coming here, I can intercept him while you work on getting Luna here. This will give me the chance to run a medical scan on him. We can have the goblins of Gringotts help us get him away from both the Dursleys AND Dumbledore. I have no doubt that they will work with us as Harry is the last of the Potters and Gryffindors. At this moment, he is also the only technically living Slytherin. Being the head of three Ancient and Noble Houses will open doors for us if we talk to the right people."

"Sirius made sure in the last timeline to make Harry his heir," remarked Filius. "I think we can use that to our advantage as well. Talk with Narcissa and get her help with it as she is a Black by birth. We have to do something to help the man even if he was a prat in school. I have to go now to get Luna and get her started here. I'll be back soon. Hagrid is almost here. You might want to move now."  
With that, Filius headed out. On his way, he waved to Harry and Hagrid, but didn't stop. He was on a mission and he would see it to fruition. Time was of the essence for everyone involved. 

Severus waited until the two got almost to Gringotts before he made his way to the duo.  
"Hello Hagrid," he said smoothly. When he got a greeting in return, he turned and leaned over to speak with Harry. "It is a pleasure to meet you Mr. Potter. Your mother and father were good people who helped everyone. I'm sure you are the same when it comes to wanting to help people. You have the same green eyes that your mother had. Unfortunately, you inherited your father's unruly hair. My name is Severus Snape. I will be your potions professor."

"It's a pleasure to meet you sir," stated Harry quietly, but politely. Severus quickly noted that Harry was very pale and looked like he wasn't feeling all that well. He also noted that Harry hid slightly behind Hagrid while talking to him. "Hagrid was telling me about some of the professors of the school. He said that you, Professor McGonagall, Professor Sprout, and Professor Flitwick are all Heads of House."

"That is true," stated Severus watching as the boy grew even paler. "Hagrid, why don't I assist Harry in getting his business done here in the alley? I know for a fact that you have a job to do for the Headmaster. The sooner you get that done, the better it would be. I promise you that Harry will be safe here in my care. I will ensure that he gets all of his supplies and a few other things that will make his time at Hogwarts a bit easier."  
Hagrid looked uncertain for a moment, but he knew that Severus was right in that he needed to get his other job done. Severus was a Head of House after all and Harry would be safe in his care. He handed Severus Harry's vault key and a few galleons.  
"I was going to buy him an owl for his birthday," stated the large man. "Would you get one for him? Something tells me that he didn't get many presents from the Dursleys. They are the worst sort of muggles imaginable. His cousin actually stole the birthday cake I gave him and ate most of it before I saw him. I have to get a spell reversal person out to fix the fat lump."

"I will arrange it for you," assured Severus slightly gritting his teeth. Harry was looking worse and worse by the moment. "Off you go now Hagrid! Professor Sprout is heading this way and together we can get things started for our Mr. Potter. Minerva and Filius are also heading this way with their charges, and we can get all the teens their belongings and supplies."  
With a smile and a pat on the back to Harry, Hagrid left. Once he was gone, Severus beckoned Pomona over and moved Harry to a spot in the shade. She joined him quickly and started to get concerned when she saw the state that Harry was in. The boy was a white as a sheet and looked about ready to faint at any moment.  
"Are you alright Mr. Potter?" she asked. "You don't look like you are feeling too well at the moment. Can we get you something? Please don't hesitate to ask. We are here to help you in every way that we can."

Minerva and Filius both returned with their charges. Lucius and Narcissa were passing with Draco when Severus flagged them down. It was at that moment that Harry collapsed on the ground unconscious. Narcissa and Severus quickly whipped out their wands to run a scan on him.  
"This child hasn't eaten in days," stated a shocked Narcissa. "There are signs that some of his internal organs are damaged and bruised. There are also bones that haven't healed properly. We have to get this child to a healer. Who is he and how old is he? He looks familiar, but I can't quite place him."

"This is Harry Potter," whispered Severus. This caused the three Malfoys and the two preteen girls to raise their eyebrows in surprise. "He is the same age as Draco and Miss Granger. As for his condition, he is in this state thanks to his muggle relatives. I don't know what we can do legally to get him away from where the Headmaster placed him. I was very good friends with Lily. I know for a fact that she didn't want Harry anywhere near her sister's family. Lucius, I hate to ask, but I need you to use your influence in the Ministry to get his custody changed to one of us Heads of House temporarily. It doesn't matter which one, but it needs to be one of us."  
"I'll do everything that I can to get this taken care of quickly and efficiently," assured Lucius. "At this moment, I suggest that you take Mr. Potter into Gringotts and let the goblin healers take care of him. They have the best healers around. Narcissa can pay for his care. We may walk a different step, but we are not uncaring people. A child's health and safety are tantamount to us."

"Draco, I need you to teach Miss Granger some of the Wizarding customs," said Severus. "She is muggleborn, but highly intelligent from what Professor McGonagall tells me. Miss Granger, I need you to listen with open ears to what Draco is going to tell you. The information will keep you from making mistakes that are common amongst those that are muggleborn or muggle raised. Harry will need this same information."  
"You don't have to say anything Miss Lovegood," remarked Filius silencing her before she could speak. "We know of your gifts and we know you are more than aware of what is going on. For now, we ask that you keep quiet about what you know as we don't want the wrong people finding out. We will explain everything as we know it to each of you when Harry is well and can understand what we have to say."

"Can we count on the Malfoys to help us in this?" asked Pomona. "We will need your family to help us stop the two stupidest wizards on the planet. Between the two, they will ruin Wizarding Britain. We can't let that happen this time. We will also need you to get Sirius OUT of Azkaban as he is innocent of the charges he went to jail for. This is the reason that Harry's care is temporarily needed in one of our hands."  
"We will help you in all that we can," assured Lucius as Narcissa nodded. Neither missed the phrase "this time". "We will need to know what's going on soon so that we can better help you. For now, let's get Mr. Potter out of the public eye. We need him cleared of all injuries and such. Have the goblins do a heritage check as well. We can stop some of what is going on as he IS the last Potter. I'll be back soon with help from Cornelius."

"It would be better if you went to Amelia Bones," stated Filius thoughtfully. "She will be more inclined to do something to assist than the Minister will. He is like an ostrich in that he will bury his head rather than listen to the truth despite it slapping him in the face. He will NOT want to oppose Dumbledore and that's what we need right now. We need someone that will not be swayed by Dumbledore's titles. While there, I need you to talk to Griselda Marchbanks. Luna's birthday is two days after the cut off. We NEED her in Hogwarts now with Harry, Draco, and Hermione. These four teens are more special than we all knew."

"Not to worry," stressed Minerva as the older Malfoys were looking at the quartet strangely. "We WILL tell you everything. Let's get started and then we can sit and talk. We will keep nothing from you. I swear that we will tell you the truth and nothing less. You deserve to know what we know and what COULD happen if we don't do something to stop it. These four teens will have a better life if I have anything to say about it and my three colleagues feel the same way. This is especially so of Harry."  
Nodding, Lucius took his leave. Severus quickly picked Harry up. He grimaced as he realized just how light the child was. He shared a look with the other adults and knew that each of them understood what he meant when he hefted the child so easily in his arms. Hermione and Luna were listening as Draco talked about some of the customs that the wizarding world had. In turn, Hermione told of some of the muggle customs that she knew about.

Upon entering, the adults did their best to shield Harry from the public eye. Filius approached the counter and spoke to the goblin sitting there. The rest of the group all waited quietly as this was going on. They were doing their best to keep Harry out of view in case someone saw him and reported back to Dumbledore.  
"We need to speak with Griphook Stonehammer and Chief Ragnok Silverlance please," he said in the native tongue. "This regards Harry Potter in more ways than one. The sooner we get him to a private room, the sooner we can explain what is going on regarding him and his vaults. We need to speak to them regarding healing, finances, and wrongful withdrawals from his vaults. We will also need to do a heritage test on him."  
"Right this way," said the goblin after looked at the unconscious boy in Severus' arms. "This is serious and we will help in all ways that we can. Let's get him some privacy while we work on that. We don't want him embarrassed any more than necessary. It wouldn't do for the press to get a hold of this information. There is something slightly off about you, but I can't quite place it."

The quartet was led to a plush office. From there, the goblin left to get Griphook and Ragnok. It wasn't long before both goblins were in the office with a healer. The healer took one look at Harry and quickly pushed the king of the goblins out of the way. She started barking orders to the two and they quietly got what she needed. In the goblin world, the healers could take command and give order, even to the king, if the situation warranted it. In this case, the three goblins saw that it more than warranted the healer to take command.  
An hour later, Harry was awake and coherent. He was quietly and shyly eating a very light lunch while Severus was talking with the healer. Minerva and Pomona were sitting near him while he ate and the other three teens were talking to him. Filius was talking with Ragnok and Griphook while they waited on word from Lucius. Narcissa was pacing back and forth while waiting. She was a furious woman right now. She wanted nothing better than to go to Harry's relative's house and curse them into oblivion. A soft knock sounded on the door. Lucius came in shortly after. 

Following him was Amelia Bones and Augusta Longbottom with their charges. Susan and Neville were quickly introduced to the other kids and they sat with them and waited.  
"Amelia is here representing the Ministry, and Augusta is here representing the Board of Governors," explained Lucius. "What did they find out about Harry and his heritage?"  
"Nothing yet," answered Narcissa. "It took about an hour to fix all of his damage. He will be on a potions regimen for the next six months at the very minimum. They were able to fix his eyesight as well. His beautiful green eyes will be visible to everyone instead of those awful glasses they made him wear. He will still have to wear glasses for now as his eyesight gets better, but in about six months, he will no longer have to wear them at all. He will be sore for a few days, but they were able to fix most everything. We just have to strengthen his bones and immune system for now. The four teens seem to be getting along for the most part. Harry is painfully shy, but he is trying."

"We were able to get a few things done for now," said Amelia handing Harry and the four Heads a rolled up piece of parchment. "As of this moment Mr. Potter, you are now going to be cared for by all four Heads of House of Hogwarts. You will NEVER have to go back to the Dursleys ever again. Young Mr. Dursley will be sent to his Aunt Marge, and your Aunt and Uncle will be arrested for child abuse, child endangerment, and from what your medical report states, possible attempted murder."

"Do you understand what she is saying Harry?" asked Severus politely. "You will NEVER have to go through what you went through ever again. The four of us will take care of you from now on. This means that if you need ANYTHING, you are to ask or talk to one of us. If it is within reason and within our power, we will provide it for you. At the moment, it is only temporary as we are also going to work on getting your godfather out of prison. He is your rightful guardian, but thanks to certain people, he is unable to take care of you at the moment."

"This doesn't mean he doesn't love or want you, but it does mean at this moment, he can't," assured Amelia. "He has been in prison for the last ten years for a crime he didn't commit. We will be working on getting him out of jail and healthy again so that he CAN take care of you. What I have arranged is that Severus, Minerva, Pomona, and Filius will be secondary guardians for you even when Sirius IS healthy enough. This way, we have more than one person that you can count on to help you."

"We all want what is best for you Mr. Potter," assured Augusta. "You should have gone to me before you went to the Dursleys. You would have grown up with my grandson Neville. We will work on making sure that the one responsible for all of this is punished until he can't move. You will be safe from here on out if we have anything to say about it."  
"Can you all please just call me Harry?" whispered the young wizard. "I thank you all for caring, but it will take me some time. I'm not used to having people care or want to help me. I will try and make sure that I do the best that I can in school and such. I just want to be able to be me for once and not be treated badly for it."  
"How about we cover your heritage now?" asked the stately goblin in a mock conspirator voice making the teens all giggle. "Professor Snape has a list of all potions you are to take for the next six months. For now, let's just go around the room and introduce ourselves shall we? I'll start. My name is Chief Ragnok Silverlance. I am the King of the Goblins of the United Kingdom."

"My name is Griphook Stonehammer," said the second goblin. "I am the newly appointed manager of the Potter vaults. I will make sure that all of your investments, businesses, money, and vaults are taken care of. I will personally be going to Privet Drive to remove the spells that has prevented your mail from getting to you."  
"My name is Severus Snape," said man stated. "I am Head of Slytherin House at Hogwarts. I teach potions. I am Draco's godfather. As of today, I am co-guardian of Harry Potter. I was a friend of his mother when we were students ourselves. I am passing that friendship to Harry and his new friends."  
"I am Minerva McGonagall," she said speaking next. "I am Head of Gryffindor House. I am also the Deputy Headmistress of the school. I was James Potter's godmother. I teach Transfiguration. I am now co-guardian of Harry Potter."

"I am Filius Flitwick," stated the diminutive Professor. "I am Head of Ravenclaw House. I teach Charms. I am unique in that I am half human and half goblin. Like my colleges, I am co-guardian of Harry Potter. Lily Potter was my star pupil."  
"I am Pomona Sprout," stated the last professor. "I am Head of Hufflepuff House. I teach Herbology. I am also co-guardian of Harry Potter. Neville Longbottom will be my top student. We will be explaining how we know so much shortly. Once the others say who they are, we will explain what is going on."

"I am Augusta Longbottom," the stately woman spoke next. "I am grandmother to Neville. I am on the Board of Governors for Hogwarts and I am the acting Head of House for the Longbottom name until Neville comes of age. We are an Ancient House that originates from this country. My son and his wife were tortured into insanity by Bellatrix Lestrange and her married family. I have no ill thoughts towards the Malfoys as they have never done anything to my family personally. I will assist in the protection of Harry James Potter."

"I am Amelia Bones," stated the next woman. "I am the Head of the Magical Law Department. My niece Susan will be starting school with you all. We are a Noble House that originates from this area. She is currently sitting with you and will join you, if you don't mind, in getting all supplies today. I will be assisting where I can to help out Harry Potter as well."  
"She is more than welcome," stated Pomona. "She will be in my house anyway."  
"My name is Lucius Malfoy," the aristocratic man spoke up next. "Draco is my son and Narcissa is my wife. We are a noble family that originates from France. Our family has been in Slytherin for generations."

"My name is Narcissa Hecate Malfoy nee` Black," stated Lucius' wife. "Sirius is my cousin. The Blacks are one of about three families left that are both Ancient and Noble. The Potter family is one and I believe that the Lovegood family is the other. There are more, but they have either moved to another country, or they lost their status somehow."  
"I'm Draco Malfoy and Lucius and Narcissa are my parents," stated the blond teen boy. "I promise to be friends with Hermione, Luna, and Harry. I will help with keeping my house from harming any of the three. I will also be friends with Susan Bones and Neville Longbottom."  
"I'm Hermione Granger," said the bushy haired girl. "I'm what Draco calls a first generation witch. I love books and love learning. I will make sure to be friends with Draco, Harry, Luna, Susan, and Neville. I'm looking forward to starting school."

"My name is Luna Lovegood," said the girl speaking next. "My mother died when I was nine in a potions accident. My father owns the Quibbler. I have Seer abilities though not to the extent of a Mystic. I just get brief images of things. I will be friends with Harry, Hermione, Draco, Susan, and Neville."  
"My name is Susan Bones," said the blond girl. "I am the niece of the Head of the DMLE. I like to read and will enjoy learning alongside the others."

"I'm Neville Longbottom," said the other shy teen. "I love plants and am looking forward to going to Hogwarts."  
"My name is Harry Potter," he said with a sigh. "The goblins said I have to come back next month so they can remove the darkness from my scar. I don't know much about myself as my Aunt never told me. Until Hagrid arrived, I thought my parents were drunks that got killed in a car accident. I will be friends with Draco, Hermione, Luna, Neville, and Susan. I am what Draco called muggle raised. I am also what is called a half-blood."

"I'm not so sure about that," mused Severus. "I don't think your mother was a muggleborn. That's the other term for a first generation. You have too many Ancient and Noble titles in your family tree to be a half-blood. We will get to your heritage in a moment. We also have to cover the illegal placement of you with people you weren't supposed to go to. We also have to make sure that any withdrawals from your accounts are taken care of. As this is the first time you have ever come to the bank, your vaults should have been in lockdown since your parents died."  
"How many vaults do I have, and who would has accessed them?" asked Harry. "I'm sure that this is information that I need to know. If someone has been taking my money, where has it been going and so forth?"

"I have been looking at that," stated Griphook. "Some of the money taken, and there has been quite a bit of it taken, has gone to Vernon and Petunia Dursley. They got roughly two thousand pounds a month to take care of you. It is apparent that they never used it one you judging by your clothing that is barely staying on your small frame."  
"Is there anything legally we can do about that?" asked Minerva. "They have basically been embezzling funds from Harry and not using it on what it was supposed to be used for. We know what is going on with him and his relatives. We would love nothing better than to beat on the worthless excuses for humanity."

"We will work on it," promised Griphook with a grin at her ferocity. "The Weasley family has been benefitting from the money as well. This has just started within the last two years. Molly Weasley has been receiving money to help with the tuition of her children. This started when Fred and George Weasley started school. This is something that we WILL take care of as we know for a fact that the school has a fund for children like the Weasleys. There is no reason that is should have come out of the Potter family vaults. They are not related to the Potters and have no reason to take the money. HOWEVER, they are not the ones that withdrew the money so we have to tread lightly."

"I AM GOING TO RING ALBUS DUMBLEDORE'S NECK," hissed Augusta in fury. "He is behind this. I know he is. There is a fund that will help ALL families that aren't able to pay the tuition. That tuition has increased a little each year for the last twenty years. It's no wonder that some families are having trouble paying."  
"Last but not least, Albus Dumbledore has been withdrawing funds to pay members of an organization called the Order of the Phoenix," stated Griphook looking murderous. "The old man has been taking hundreds of galleons out of the Potter vaults for years. The only vault that hasn't been touched is Harry's trust vault. The first payment for his tuition came out a few days ago, but that is supposed to happen. However, there are close to one hundred thousand galleons that have been taken out of the Potter Family vaults that have gone to the aforementioned people."

"Can you get it back?" asked Harry before anyone could speak. "If he is taking this money from me illegally, can we get it all back? That sounds like an awful lot of money he is taking. What is the exchange rate to pounds?"  
"Five to one," answered Hermione promptly. "This means that the Headmaster of the school we are about to attend has stolen about a half a million pounds out of your account. Does he even have the right to have access to the vaults in question?"

"No he doesn't," assured Ragnok. "You can bet that we will be getting Harry's money back from Albus Dumbledore. As he is the one that has been making the withdrawals, he can pay it back. I happen to know that he has that much money and more being saved in an account under an assumed name. We know our business and that money will be taken from him. Harry's money plus twenty percent interest will be repaid by no later than tomorrow. From there, Dumbledore will be fined for his transgressions and be temporarily barred from the bank. I will see to it that Harry's vaults are rekeyed. I shall send him one key and send another to the Minerva McGonagall. That way one of his guardians has a key in case of an emergency."

Griphook quickly drew up the documents and passed them to Harry to sign. They explained to him what was in the documents and who was to sign with him. With a nod, Harry quickly signed the paper. Severus, Pomona, Filius, and Minerva quickly signed after him. Ragnok added his own signature to the documents so that no one would be able to dispute it. A copy was given to Harry and Minerva. From there, they moved on to the next part of the business they wanted to get done.


	2. Time for Explanations

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **  
> _Author's Note:_** _This chapter was originally written by StormyFireDragon._

"We still need to do Harry's heritage check," stated Severus. "From there, the four of us will let you all know what is going on and why we are doing what we are doing. You may not believe us, but we will take an oath that states we will be telling the full truth as we know it to be. We don't want any deceptions, but we will withhold certain things so that people can be protected. We will not lie to you however."

"The heritage check is simple enough," explained Griphook to Harry. The others in the room were nodding at what Severus had to say. Some of them were curious to the point of anxiety, but they were being patient all the same. "To get your lineage tested, we just need you to prick your finger and let seven drops of blood fall onto the parchment I will provide for you. The magic will take care of the rest."

Nodding in understanding, Harry watched as the goblin laid out a sheet of old parchment in front of him. He opened a drawer and pulled out a gold needle and handed it to Harry. Harry took it and pierced his finger before handing the needle back. He pressed on his finger and watched as seven drops of blood hit the sheet. He watched in awe as the blood spread out and formed names and such after a few moments, it stopped and Harry began to read out the names to everyone: 

_HERITAGE OF HARRY JAMES POTTER:_

_Potter is from his father. Harry is the last Potter alive._

_Gryffindor is from his father. Harry is the last Gryffindor alive._

_Peverell is from his father. Harry is one of two Peverell members alive. Thomas Riddle is alive even if he is in wraith form at the moment._

_Evans is from his mother. Harry is one of three Evans members alive. His Aunt and cousin are squibs._

_Slytherin is from his mother. Harry is one of four Slytherin members alive. His Aunt and cousin are squibs. Thomas Riddle is alive even if he is in wraith form at the moment._

_Black is from his godfather. Sirius Black did a blood adoption ritual which made Harry his blood heir. Sirius Black, Narcissa Malfoy, Draco Malfoy, Andromeda Tonks, Nymphadora Tonks, and Bellatrix Lestrange are other immediate Black family members. Others are about with a lesser claim._

_In Conclusion, Harry Potter is the Head of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Peverell, Gryffindor, Slytherin, and Potter. He is the Heir Apparent of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Black. Harry is also Head of House of Clan Evans._

_Thomas Riddle while an older Slytherin lost his title of Head due to the Right of Conquest act._

_Petunia and Dudley Dursley cannot be a Head of House as both are non-magical._

"You knew most of this didn't you?" asked Harry looking at the four Professors of Hogwarts. "This is why you are trying to help me as much as you are."  
"Yes and no," answered Filius. "We are from about seven years into the future. You, Draco, Luna, and Hermione sent the four of us back in time to help save the Wizarding World from falling during the battle between Dumbledore and the Dark Lord. You are special due to who you are and who you are related to. The magic the four of you cast in the future killed you, but you succeeded as we are safely here today. We simply merged with our younger selves and retained our knowledge of the future."

"It was no accident that you met us all in the alley today," said Severus. "When we came back, we were sent there to intercept Hagrid and take you with us instead. This is how we know that Dumbledore was doing wrong things. Over the course of your years at Hogwarts, you were lead on one merry test after another. This was all done by the Headmaster. He doesn't have your best interest at heart."

"In the end, you were set up to be a pig at a slaughter," sighed Minerva. "You were set up by Dumbledore to die in the final confrontation between you and the Dark Lord. His real name is Thomas Riddle. Voldemort is a made up anagram. He had a muggle father and a below average witch for a mother. I say had because his mother died after giving birth to him and he murdered his father at the age of sixteen."

"In your six years at Hogwarts, you have faced the Dark Lord four times," continued Pomona. "You faced him in your first, second, fourth, and fifth year. You didn't face him in sixth year as unfortunately for the Malfoy family, they were used and abused by the Dark Lord. You never came back for your seventh year as Dumbledore sent you on a quest to destroy the horcruxes that belong to the Dark Lord."

"PLURAL?" asked a pale Amelia. "To make one is bad enough. To make more than one is detrimental to anyone and everyone. How many did he make and where are they? We have to destroy them as soon as we can."  
"There is one here in the bank," stated Severus plainly. "It's in the Lestrange Vault. It's the cup of Helga Hufflepuff. There are six others. There is one in Hogwarts that we will send here to the goblins as soon as we can. It's the diadem of Ravenclaw. There is on in Sirius' house, but he doesn't know it. We have to get him out of prison so that he can get Slytherin's Locket out. Lucius has one though he doesn't know what it is. The Diary is a horcrux. There is one in Harry's scar. He will be coming back next month to have it dealt with. I'm not sure if he made the last one yet or not. His snake Nagini will be one if she isn't already."

"You are missing one," said Harry quickly. "That's only six. Where is the last one?"  
"It's a Peverell heirloom," said Minerva thinking quickly. "The Ring of Antioch Peverell is in the Gaunt Shack in Little Hangleton. Nice catch there Harry. Well done. Once we get that one back, we will have a Curse breaker clean it and give it back to you as it does technically belong to you. There are a few other heirlooms that we have to get back to you as well as they rightfully belong to you. We also have to get rid of the bones of all of Riddle's family as he used his father's bones in a ritual in what would be three years from now."

"The rest of the Deathly Hallows," said Luna looking at something they couldn't see. "As you are from the future, then that means that Harry is still technically the Master of Death as he united all three Hallows. Dumbledore has one and he needs to give it back to Harry. You could punish the man by letting him use it with minimal success for a little while if you wanted, but technically, the wand belongs to Harry now. Dumbledore won't be able to hold on to it for much longer as it will start to call out to Harry once he steps into Hogwarts."

"Albus also has Harry's cloak," spat Severus. "James would be rolling in his grave if he were alive that the old fool has his family heirloom. I may not have liked James in school, but I did respect his ability. I also respected him for his love of his family. The man died a hero and that means everything to everyone. I will NOT, let someone petty like Albus Dumbledore ruin the family or their memory. Lucius, you NEED to cut all ties with the Dark Lord. If you don't he will continue to hurt your family. It isn't like you wanted to join him anyway. Your father made you do it. In Draco's sixth year, he was branded. His job was to murder Dumbledore. Draco failed."

"We will work with you and Harry," promised Lucius with his hand over his heart. "What is the plan that we are going to work on at the moment. What can we do to change history even more than we already have? I DON'T want my son branded or forced to become a murderer. You have the full support of the Malfoy family."  
"You have to do nothing," stated Filius plainly. "We can handle most of it as, most of it happened at Hogwarts. You will need to keep your nose clean and keep Fudge busy. We don't have time for him and his stupidity. Send the Diary here to the bank. The goblins have ways of dealing with soul anchors."

"The teens need to be in separate houses at school as much as possible," said Pomona next. "Luna was in Ravenclaw and as she has a hint of the blood, she should go back. We will watch out over her better this time around as we don't want her bullied again. Hermione was in Gryffindor with Harry. We would like for her to stay there as she is the better candidate. Draco, of course, went to Slytherin. He would do well to stay there as he can keep an eye on the Death Eater children. Harry was in Gryffindor, but we would prefer it if he went to a house other than the two he is related to."

"Why?" asked Hermione with curiosity. "It would make better sense if he was in a house of one of his relatives due to being able to use the magic to keep himself protected. I would be willing to go to Hufflepuff if it would help out."

"There is a long animosity between Gryffindor House and Slytherin House," answered Lucius. "By Harry going to a different house, he won't get caught in the conflict as much as he would if he ended up in one of his ancestor's houses. This will take some of the spotlight off of him and let him have a chance at a normal childhood while at school. Under the eye of a different Head of House, he won't be latched onto due to being who he is as much. His parents were in Gryffindor and Dumbledore will expect him to go there due to who he is and so forth."

"We want to thwart as many of the plans Dumbledore has made as possible," assured Severus. "Harry would be well out of the spotlight in Hufflepuff House. This will save much heartache on his part as well as the life of Cedric Diggory. We are doing this to save more than just your four lives. There are others that died too soon that we can save. Cedric Diggory will be able to watch out over Harry easier than many others."

"I'll go," said Harry. "I think I will enjoy it there. Professor Sprout looks like a person that will smother you in love and make you feel on top of the world while doing it. Professors Snape and McGonagall seem strict and probably with good reason. Professor Flitwick seems to be like a jolly uncle despite the situation we are talking about. I'm sure that between the four of us that we can get the unity between the houses to start so that we can all be what we are meant to be."

"What's that Harry?" asked Draco in confusion. "I'm a bit confused by that. What are we meant to be?"  
"Students getting good grades and enjoying our time while learning," answered Hermione instead. "If we are constantly going with the feuds between the houses due to history, we lose out on learning what it means to be a good student while getting to have some fun while we learn. Life is about enjoying it as much as getting good grades and so forth. We aren't supposed to have to deal with the harsher portions that life has to throw at us until we are older and able to handle it better."

"Wisely stated Miss Granger," said Minerva with a smile. "That is exactly right. The four of you will be able to help us get your fellow students to work with others outside of your own dorms. If we could have all students together rather than separate you we would, but tradition must be followed in this aspect of things. It is how the Founders of the school set it up."  
"For now, let's go and get you your school supplies," suggested Narcissa. "Harry will need regular clothes as well. We can all work together to make sure that everything gets taken care of. Where will Harry be staying once we are done here today?"

"We haven't had a chance to figure that out yet," admitted Severus with a sigh. "We were concentrating more on getting him with us and sort of neglected as to where he would go once we had him. If you have any suggestions, we would be open to hearing them. I'm sure that we can find a place for him for the last month of the holiday. We Heads of House are going to be busy, so it will have to be somewhere safe."

"He'll stay with us then," said Augusta promptly. "Our Manor has many wards and stuff on it to keep people like Dumbledore and Death Eaters out. I had them updated after the attack on my family. Harry will be more than safe with me and Neville. Before you ask, it won't be a problem or imposition. We have ample room for him and you are more than welcome to come and go to check on him if you want. It will also keep the old goat from becoming to suspicious. We can always say that I met Harry in Diagon Alley with Neville and offered him to stay with us until school started."

"Excellent," said Amelia clapping. "It will keep him thinking that Harry is with someone he can pull the strings of. If Harry were to go with Lucius, we would have a fight on our hands from the start. Harry needs to visit his vault to get some gold for his shopping. Other than that, I will ask that Susan and I join you as we need to get our shopping done as well. We can do it as a group which will be safer for the kids."

Every agreed with that. Severus escorted Harry down to his vaults and explained the currency to him. They filled a bag with gold and a few books that caught Harry's eye. He wasn't able to pull artefacts out, but he was able to look and take books or money. Severus made sure he had the Potter Codex with him as well. They would send word to the goblins later about the Gryffindor, Slytherin, and Peverell Codex. Severus made a mental note to ask about the Black family one as well.

Upon reaching the surface, the group all headed out. Each was chatting amicably with one another about anything and everything. They hit the robe store and got everyone's school robes as well as a few for every day wear. They hit the Apothecary and stocked up on potions supplies that Severus directed them too other than what was on the list. From there, they hit the book store where the teachers had a good time working with the teens on their normal course books as well as books for on the side reading.

Hermione was looking a bit downcast as she was limited on what she could buy due to not having that much money, but Harry and Draco quickly assured her that they would help her and she could always pay them back later. With that being said, the reinstated bookworm of Hogwarts eased up and had some fun. When they were done there, the teens were taken to get their wands. True to their thoughts, Ollivander had to make a special wand for Harry. It contained a claw from a Nemean Lion as well as the fang of a basilisk in it.  
"Probably due to whom my ancestors are," remarked Harry after leaving the shop. "From what I have learned so far, the symbols for the two houses are the lion and the snake. These are just bigger forms."

"You are probably right there," laughed Narcissa. "You are quite intelligent Harry. I hope that you do us proud by getting high marks in your studies. You and I are related and we are just going to be more parents for you. We want you to be the best that you can be in this lifetime and we will do our best to make sure you get as normal a life as we can get for you."  
"Thank you Aunt Narcissa," said Harry hoping that it was alright to call her Aunt. When the woman beamed at him, he relaxed marginally. "I enjoy learning, but I was never allowed to do better than Dudley. I will do my best to get the grades you all want me to get. I can't wait to start reading our course books. Potions looks like it will be fun. Charms seems like it will be easy and Transfiguration looks like it will be the hardest. I always took care of the gardens for my Aunt, so Herbology is something I'm already used to. This is just a bit more dangerous plants we will be working with."

"I am very strict in my class due to the dangers that a wrong ingredient can cause," informed Severus. "However, with the extra reading material that I had you all get, there is no reason for any of you to have an accident in my class. This will include you Mr. Longbottom. You can't afford to be shy at school. This will just hamper your ability to use your magic. I will do my best to help you all out as much as possible, but don't forget that I have a whole class of students to work with."

"It's best that each of you read at least one chapter ahead in your books before each lesson," instructed Minerva. "This will give you a basis on which to work. Writing a short summery of each chapter wouldn't go amiss either. It will keep you focused and more knowledgeable. I will caution Hermione with one thing. Do NOT study so much that you forget to live. There is no reason to prove you are intelligent. We already know you are. Try not to alienate yourself from your classmates by trying to prove to us what we already know. Also, try not to add more than required for your homework assignments. It was hard to read sometimes and takes more out of learning than you need. It's ok to add some, but not to sometimes triple the length as you were prone to do in the other timeline."

"You were alone most of the time except for Harry and Ronald Weasley in the other timeline due to you always wanting to answer all of the questions all of the time," informed Filius. "Harry will not have to worry about saving people all the time as that is what we professors are for. Mr. Longbottom will have to pluck up his courage and not be afraid to ask for help. Draco will need to remember that not everything is black and white, nor is he the king of the school. Miss Bones needs to learn to speak up and not gossip so much. Luna will not need to speak about her imaginary animals so much though it does make a good defense for her towards those who would try and use her."

"Keep in mind that we came back and allowed you four to sacrifice yourselves for the betterment of the world," stated Pomona. "We won't allow your sacrifice to be in vain. You all need to heed our advice and let us worry about the nasty stuff. Are there any questions so far? We know that we have thrown lots of information at you in a short period of time."  
"Can you all call me Neville when we are not in class?" asked the shy teen. "I want to fit in with everyone else. My mum and dad are in St. Mungo's thanks to Draco's aunt, but I don't hold him or his parents responsible. So as you are calling the others by their given names can you do the same for me?"

"Of course we can," answered Severus. "When we are not in class you may call us aunt or uncle as well. We will caution you of one more thing before we let Minerva take Hermione home. All four of us have to play certain roles if we want to succeed when we get to Hogwarts. So if we are not open and bubbly with you all, just know that we are trying to not blow our cover. Harry, your father and I were not friendly in school. To keep face with Dumbledore and the Death Eater teens, I will have to act slightly cold to you in public. I will not be cruel to you, but I can NOT be seen as being friendly with you like I am now. This doesn't mean I will care less about you, but I need to keep my cover."

"I understand," said Harry. "I trust you. I don't know how or why, but I trust you with this and so much more. I'm not normally so open, but something about you says that no matter what, I will be safe. This is no slight on the rest of you of course."  
Everyone laughed at Harry as Minerva and Hermione took their leave. The Malfoys and Amelia did the same. Pomona and Filius stated they would see everyone at Hogwarts and they too took their leave. Severus told Harry he was taking him to get clothes before he would allow him to go home with the Longbottoms. He arranged with Augusta to pick Harry up at eight in the evening. He told her that he would make sure Harry ate dinner and so forth.

"I have been thinking about a few things," Harry told Severus as they ate. "You told us that Dumbledore and the Dark Lord were the ones that were doing the damage to the four of us. I have an idea that might work to get them to leave us alone just a bit more than they normally would with your interceptions. It will be totally off the wall and not something they are used to."  
"Do pray tell what devious plan you have in mind," asked Severus with total interest. "Your father and his friends were total pranksters in school. I gave as good as I got. Therefore I can help you enhance the idea if I think it's feasible to work with. If not, we can adjust it to fit with our needs. Never be afraid to express your thoughts. You have a brain in your head for a reason. So long as you aren't doing anything to endanger yourself or others, you are more than welcome to act as you see fit."

"What if the six of us with a few select others act mentally challenged around both Dumbledore and Riddle?" asked Harry to the surprise and amusement of Severus. "We can keep them off of us by acting crazy. We can do things like blow raspberries when they ask us questions and such. We can also call ourselves or him with nicknames and such so that he is so confused that he leaves us alone. If we lose points from them, you guys can always figure out a way to give them back to us."

"This idea has lots of merit to it," mused Severus thoughtfully trying not to smile at how simple yet manageable the idea was. "Let me talk with the others and see what they have to say about it. I'll get back to you on it. I also know of a pair of jokers already at Hogwarts that might help out. While it's just me and you, I want to warn you that most of the Weasley family is not as light as they claim. The twins, the two oldest sons, and Arthur Weasley can be trusted to an extent. The twins were totally in your corner before Fred died. Bill and Charlie won't be seen that often. Beware Ronald, Percy, Ginevra, and Molly. They used potions on three of you in the old timeline."

"Ok," responded Harry. "I will keep your words in mind. Thank you for taking me clothes shopping. I have never had anything nice like this before. You didn't have to pay for it though. It looks like I can afford to buy the store and not make a scratch in my vault."  
"It is the job of the adults to make sure that you as a child have his needs," remarked Severus. "While I appreciate your gratitude, I will ask you to remember to talk to any of the adults you met today if you need something. We are now responsible for your health, livelihood, and needs. We will always be available to talk to any of you should you need us."  
"Thanks Uncle Severus," said Harry smiling. "It's nice to know that people care about me instead of how hard they can make me work and how many chores they can pile on me in a day's time. I'm looking forward to school starting so that I can learn how to be a good wizard."

Later that afternoon, Severus had Augusta collect Harry and bring him to Longbottom Manor. The two boys went off together once they arrived chatting about anything and everything. Severus reminded Augusta about the date of Harry's return to the healers for the removal of the horcrux from his scar. Upon getting affirmation that they would be there, Severus took his leave to return to Hogwarts and get his classroom set up for the upcoming year.  
Later that day the four heads were sitting in the office of the Headmaster of the school. Albus always sat them down and talked about the upcoming year. This way he could see what students showed promise for his enterprises.  
"Hagrid tells me that the four of you met young Mr. Potter," he threw in. "What did you all think of him? Will he be as good as his parents were? Does he show signs of being a powerful wizard?"

"Albus Dumbledore," hissed Minerva. "If I even get a glimpse of you going near that boy, I will personally tear your head off your shoulders and bury it at the bottom of the lake. I warned you that he wasn't going to be treated right by those horrible people. I WAS RIGHT! He is too thin, wearing clothes that are way too large for him, and is pale as death."  
"I'm sure that you are exaggerating just a bit there Minerva," assured Albus. "There are lots of plausible excuses for how he looked. James was a thin boy when he was young. I'm sure the clothes are just a fad. My resources tell me that Harry is rebellious and very well loved in spite of that."  
"Well your resources were wrong," snarled the normally placid Charms Professor. "The boy was ill. We had to get a healer to look at him as he collapsed on the ground. Thanks to Severus, he will be fine. He caught him before he smashed his head open on the ground. We ran the diagnostics on him. He was very ill. We took him to a healer and got him healed."

"Severus?" asked Dumbledore looking at the frowning man. "Why did you get involved? You need to be careful so that you don't blow your cover as spy. I know you loved Lily, but your hatred of James is legendary. Why would you help the child of your nemesis?"  
"You will leave my feelings towards the Potter adults out of this if you please," snapped Severus. "I am withholding judgment on the child until I can see what he does or doesn't do in class. Despite my feelings towards the father, you know how I feel about child abuse. It is OBVIOUS that the child is being abused in that house. As such, I made an executive decision and let the boy go with Augusta Longbottom. She assured me and Minerva that Mr. Potter will be safe and on the train come the first. Now if you don't have any more stupid questions, I have potions to brew for the brat so that he can live to torment me."

Albus sat there with a gob smacked expression on his face as the ace in his hole stalked out of the room in a huff. Albus rubbed his head wearily as some of the other professors were also glaring daggers at him. Pomona didn't even give him a chance to ask any questions before she lit into him about her opinion of things. At one point he could swear he heard Fawkes laughing at him. He would have to just sit back and observe what was happening. The boy needed to be where he was.  
Later in the day, Severus brought up Harry's idea to the rest of the group. After a few moments of thought, they decided that Harry should give it a try with some of the other students. Letters were quickly written and sent to the six teens. The four Heads of House also decided that it was time to let loose the Weasley twins on the Headmaster. The old fool wouldn't know what hit him when they were done.

Albus sat behind his desk wondering how he was going to get control of Harry back. It was obvious that they knew the boy was hurt and such. It was a matter of making them forget that they knew what was going on. He also knew there was nothing that could be done. Filius and Severus would know if someone was messing with their memories. Minerva and Pomona would serve him up for lunch to one of Hagrid's beasts if they heard he even tried it.

"I need that boy in my control," he said out loud. "He has to be able to get rid of Tom for me. Once that happens, he can be arrested for murder and such. I just need him to trust me so that I can set him up for the final confrontation. I have worked for too long to get where I am. I am not about to lose it all to a child. I will be the most revered wizard no matter what it takes."  
The Sorting hat and Fawkes watched as the old wizard made his plans. What Dumbledore didn't understand was that he already lost long before he even got started. Fawkes knew what was going on with Albus. It was just a matter of time to get him where he needed so that the old fool would choke on his own devious plans. The Sorting Hat pointed his tip at the Sword of Godric and nodded to Fawkes who chirped back at him in understanding. The new owner of the Sword was coming home.

Albus went to bed that night slightly troubled, but determined on his course. He cast the spells needed on the Sorting Hat to place Harry and Neville together in Gryffindor. He would catch the boy later to bind his powers. He went up to his private quarters not hearing the laughter of the Sorting Hat as the spells he cast were shaken off.  
"The old fool still doesn't realize that his spells don't work on me," the hat told Fawkes. "He is in for a huge surprise come the first isn't he?"


	3. Hogwarts at Last!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  _ **Author's Note:**_ _This chapter was originally written by StormyFireDragon._

The last month before school went by fast for Harry and his group. The healers told Harry that he had a clean bill of health, but advised him to take the potions to continue to improve his immune system and to strengthen his bones and muscles. They wanted him to be able to function without having to worry about being hurt by a gentle wind.  
The soul shard fought hard to leave Harry's scar, but in the end, the goblins worked their magic and was able to pull it out and destroy it. It was within days that the Diadem of Ravenclaw, the Cup of Hufflepuff, and the Diary were sent to them for extraction. Amelia and her group were successful in getting the ring from the Gaunt's hovel not more than a few days later. They listened to what Severus said and removed the bones from the graves of the Riddle family members. They replaced all of the bones with fake skeletons from the muggle holiday stores. The Dark Lord would have a few surprises if he tried that ritual again.

September first rolled around and Harry and Neville were pacing in the foyer of the Longbottom Manor. Augusta chuckled at both of them before she had the house elves bring their belongings to the train for them. From there, she apparated both to the station and stood with them while they got their bearings.

"You will find that the train will always be able to hold everyone," she explained. "You won't have to worry about overcrowding and such. Hermione, Draco, Susan, and Luna shouldn't be too much longer. Remember to be polite to your professors and study hard. I have no doubt that all six of you will be just fine if you remember to follow the instructions of your Head of House. It doesn't matter what house you get into. You will all be great assets to whatever house you do get in. Your parents will be proud of you no matter what. I know that I am."

"Thanks Gran," chorused the boys before they got on the train. Within moments, they found their carriage and got settled in. Hedwig and Trevor sat with them while they got their book bags situated and then leaned out of the window to chat with Augusta some more. Harry took to calling her Gran just like Neville and the older witch was pleased with this. Harry was a very polite and well-mannered young man.

The six kids had taken to calling Augusta Gran. The older witch smiled each time she heard it. Xeno and Lucius became uncles to the group while all of the females became aunts. The preteens even took to calling the professors aunt and uncle when they met up with them here and there. Each of the adults was excited by this and enjoyed it immensely. All six kids were loved by the adults and each adult was loved by the kids.

It wasn't long before Amelia and Susan appeared and the boys hurried to help with Susan's trunk. They got it situated and the trio settled down to wait for the other three. It wasn't long before Draco and Luna appeared with their parents. Lucius helped get the trunks on the train while Narcissa chatted with the kids. While this was going on, Hermione and her parents came in from the muggle entrance and each adult breathed a sigh of relief at seeing them.  
"Just remember to study hard," remarked Narcissa to the six kids in front of her. "We want to hear from all of you often so please write to us. Let us know what house you got into and how you are settling in. Severus said to tell you all that the plan Harry came up with is a go ahead. We were asked to advise caution, but when it comes to Dumbledore and the Dark Lord, let the teachers deal with them directly, but you have their permission to drive them slightly batty."

"Go NOWHERE alone with either of them," stated Amelia firmly. "Both are skilled in mind magic so don't meet their eyes if you don't have to. I have the Unspeakables working on something for you all to help protect against that, but for now, just try not to look either of them in the eye. Should they do so, report to any of the Heads of House and tell them. Harry shouldn't have any headaches around Quirrell as the soul shard was removed. If you do, then report it to a teacher as it means he is trying to scan your mind."

"We don't want any of you getting hurt," remarked Xeno. "The six of you are our treasures and we don't like our investments harmed. We will deal with things on our end. Your jobs are to be the best students that you can be. Remember to always look out for one another no matter what house you get into. You are only strong if you stick together."  
"Remember that the Professors said that Dumbledore will try and get Harry to go on an adventure," reminded Augusta wagging a finger at them. "Don't let that old fool lure you into a trap. Also don't forget to avoid Ronald Weasley. We have already had one run in with that family that almost caused me to do damage to their youngest boy. We don't want another one."

"For Christmas, Harry will have a few options available to him," said Lucius in his calm voice. "All of us have invited him to stay. This includes the Grangers. We will be having our Christmas party and all of you are invited. I have some friends of mine warding the Granger home for their safety. This should be done by the time they arrive home today. I also have a house elf listening for their call in case of an emergency."

"Take care of each other," said Emma while Dan nodded. "We will also want to hear from you all. In the last couple of months, we are delighted that Hermione has so many new friends. We will look forward to hearing from all of you. Stay safe and remember that we all love you."  
With that, the kids got back on the train after a hug and kiss from each parent and went to their carriage. They waved frantically to the adults that were waving back. The train began to move and one by one, the parents lost sight of their kids.

"We still have a lot of work to do," said Lucius to the group. "Dan and Emma, we will help you as much as we can, but we have to stay out of the limelight so to speak. Cissa and I have an image to uphold, but we will do our best to assist you. If you need us, use the owl that Harry bought for you. Just tell it our name and it will deliver a message to us. For now, don't worry about Hermione. She will be watched over carefully. She is a special young lady and we won't let anything happen to her."

With that, the parents all went their separate ways. Each knew that everyone was working towards the same goal. That goal was to stop both Dumbledore and the Dark Lord from harming the kids. This was something that each person took seriously.  
On the train, the kids were having fun talking and getting everything explained. At one point the door opened and some of Draco's friends stopped in to say hi. At other points, Susan's friends came in. Of course not all visits were friendly. Ronald Weasley finally put in an appearance. He entered, sat down, and helped himself to some of their sweets without even asking or being offered. The six friends took offense to this. This was rudeness at its finest.

"I was told that Harry Potter is in this compartment," he told them as he was sitting down. "He and I are going to be best friends. Dumbledore already stated that when we get into Gryffindor House that I was the only one that could be his friend. I thought you should all know this upfront before you get any ideas. Now, which one of you is Harry?"

"What makes you think that I want to be in Gryffindor or your friend?" asked Harry with anger on his face. "Who do you think you are just barging in here and helping yourself to our stuff? You weren't invited, nor given permission to do what you are doing now. Get out of here before you really upset us. I don't want to be friends with someone like you. Not only are you crude, but just listening to you make me believe that you are moronic as well."  
"He is pretty dumb isn't he?" asked Hermione in shock at the rudeness of the boy. "I didn't think I would meet someone that would cause me to take an instant disliking, but I see that I have been proven wrong. This boy is despicable. Is that food on his clothes? He can't even chew with his mouth closed. He is so disgusting."

"But mate," explained Ronald ignoring Hermione. "You HAVE to go to Gryffindor. Your parents were both in that house. Also, you have to be my friend. You can't be friends with a slimy snake like Malfoy or a squib like Longbottom. You are the Boy- Who- Lived. You can do better than the people in this carriage as friends. I will be your best mate."

"I SAID TO GET OUT!" hissed Harry in fury. "The five people in the carriage have been nothing but nice to me. You are nothing more than someone that doesn't deserve to have friends much less demand someone else to be your friend. My advice to you would be to avoid me at all costs while at school. I won't be held responsible for my actions towards you if you keep on making demands of me."

"I don't have to leave," said Ronald simply. "My brother is a prefect and he will place you in detention if you don't do what I tell you to do. It would just be better for you to follow the rules and be done with it. You have no choice in the matter. Dumbledore said he would make you if he had to."

"Your brother won't be prefect for long with that attitude," snapped Susan. "My Aunt is the Head of the DMLE and I insist that you get out of here before SHE finds out just what kind of person you are. You don't just come in someone's carriage and make yourself king. Your brother can't punish us for throwing you out of our carriage and if he even tries, he will not be prefect by the end of the night. NOW GET OUT! Dumbledore can't make ANYONE be friends with someone if they don't want to. My aunt will hear about that."

"My father will also, being hearing about this," snapped Draco. "You need to leave Weasel and let us normal people have an enjoyable evening. We don't have time for losers like you nor do we want to make time. Take your idiotic self and leave before we make you. This is your last chance."  
All six of them had more than enough or Ronald. All had their wands trained on the idiot. With a snarl and one more threat, he left the compartment. It wasn't long before he came back with Percy. Ronald stood there with a smirk on his face as Percy took stock of the situation.

"I was told that you all pulled a wand on my brother," he informed them. "The Headmaster will learn of this and all six of you will be in detention for attempting to harm another student. You will all have to give me your names and such so that I can complete the report. I know some of you, but not everyone."

"I don't think so," said Harry standing up. "Your brother barged in here uninvited. He helped himself to OUR sweets without permission. He demanded that I leave this carriage so that he and I could be best mates. From there, he insulted just about all of us. When he was told to leave, he threatened us with you. Now that you are here, I will be talking with Professor McGonagall, Professor Flitwick, Professor Sprout, and Professor Snape about both of you. NOW GET OUT!"  
"Who are you and how do you know the professors?" asked Percy with slight trepidation. Due to the healing with the goblins, Harry didn't totally resemble James Potter anymore. "They are not known by many unless you are from an older family or met them before coming to Hogwarts. You don't look like one that has been raised in the magical world."

"My name is Harry Potter," hissed Harry. "As for how I know them, they are my temporary guardians. When the six of us tells them what the two of you did, you will lose your badge and your brother will be in a lot of trouble for lying. Now, what's it going to be Weasley? Are you going to take your git of a brother and leave, or do I have to get the professors to take your badge for abusing your position?"  
"I will deal with my brother," said Percy with fear in his voice. "He won't bother you anymore on this trip. He lied to me. Please don't have my badge taken. If my badge gets taken, then I won't be eligible to be Head Boy."

Harry stared at him for a moment before nodding in agreement. He didn't want to get anyone in trouble, but from what Ronald was saying; Dumbledore was putting his nose in the situation before they even got to the school. With a wave of his hand, Harry dismissed Percy. Percy was only too happy to leave and dragged Ronald with him as he hurried away.  
The rest of the trip went by uneventful. The six teens were grateful for this fact. They didn't think they could stand one more stupid person telling them what they could or couldn't do. Even some of Draco's friends were told to push off and get a life. It wasn't long before the teens got dressed into their school robes. Slowly the train pulled to a stop. With some trepidation, they exited the train where Harry recognized Hagrid calling the first years to him.

"Hey Hagrid," called Harry as he and his group got to him. "It's good to see you again. I'm so happy to finally be here. I never got the chance to thank you for bringing me to Diagon Alley. That place is so awesome. I also want to thank you for my owl. I got a snowy owl that I named Hedwig. She is scary smart."

"It's good to see you Harry," agreed Hagrid. "It's nice to see that you made friends. It's also good that you are feeling better. I didn't like your muggle relatives and I'm glad that the professors took you in and helped you. You look much better. As soon as I have all of the first years we can head to the boats and you can have your first look at Hogwarts."  
The six friends waited patiently with Hagrid while the other first year students walked over with some trepidation. Hagrid wasn't exactly small and he made some of them nervous. With a smile to all of them, Hagrid led them down the path to the boats. When they turned the corner, everyone gave an exclamation of delight at seeing Hogwarts sitting on the side of the mountain. She was breathtaking to look at.

"No more than four to a boat please," instructed Hagrid. "We will head up to the castle here. Try not to lean too far over the side of the boat as you may fall in. We will arrive at the castle in about twenty minutes. If you are lucky, the giant squid might wave to you."  
Harry, Draco, and Neville got into a boat with a boy Draco identified as Blaise Zabini. Hermione, Susan, and Luna got into a boat with Hannah Abbot. When the rest of the students were settled into the boats, Hagrid tapped his umbrella on the side of his boat and they were off. Twenty minutes later, they arrived at the shore of the castle. Hagrid led them to the doors of the castle where they were met my Professor McGonagall.

"Welcome to Hogwarts," she exclaimed. "Before you can join the rest of the students, we must sort you into your houses. They are Gryffindor, Slytherin, Hufflepuff, and Ravenclaw. Each house has produced many great witches and wizards. I'm sure that each of you will be a great asset to whatever house you get sorted into. Your house is like your family. Your triumphs will earn you points while your rule breaking will lose you points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points wins the house cup. Good luck to you all. Give me a couple of minutes and I will lead you to the Great Hall where you will be sorted."

With that, she entered the Great Hall to oversee the settling of the older students. When they were all seated and ready, she returned to see the ghosts talking with the new students. She quickly sent the ghosts to the Great Hall. She was interested in noting that Harry seemed to have no trouble speaking to the Bloody Baron. She was impressed to see the Baron talking back to him. With her usual efficiency, she got the students in line and brought them to the Great Hall. She heard Ronald Weasley bemoaning the fact that the twins had lied to him. She also heard Harry and Hermione telling the others about the ceiling being bewitched.

"When I call your name, please step forward so that I can place the hat on your head," instructed Minerva. "He will be able to tell us what house you will go in. First we have Hannah Abbot."  
The hat took a couple of moments to examine her before he sent her to Hufflepuff. Minerva smiled at her as she scooted off to her new house mates. Susan was called next. The four Heads of House held their breaths as the hat deliberated for a moment before sending her to Hufflepuff like before. Next of the six was Neville. The hat deliberated for a few moments before it sent Neville to Hufflepuff. Neville smiled at Minerva before he raced off to sit with Susan and Hannah.

Harry clapped loudly for his friends as they were called up. Hermione went next and after a few moments, she returned to Gryffindor. Harry smiled at her as she winked at him before heading to sit down at the table. Draco went up next and was quickly sorted into Slytherin. Harry smiled at him and got one in return. Neville, Susan, and Hermione were all clapping loudly for their friend. Luna was up next and she was quickly sent to Ravenclaw. Harry smiled at her as she hugged him before she went to sit down. Filius and Pomona laughed at Harry as he turned red in the face. He did the only thing he could think of and stuck his tongue out at them.

A chuckling Minerva continued with the roll call. Finally it was Harry's turn to be sorted. All of the students quieted down as he walked forward and allowed Minerva to place the hat on his head. The professors were all waiting with baited breath. They hoped beyond hope that their plans to keep Harry out of Slytherin and Gryffindor would work.

"Impressive Mr. Potter," said the hat in his head. "It seems we have an heir and new Lord of Hogwarts. However, your guardians are determined to protect you from the machinations of Dumbledore. You have the traits of all four houses. You would do well in all of them. We just have to figure out what would be the best option. I have felt the spells from Dumbledore trying to control where I place students. Too bad for him that Godric and the founders were loads stronger in magic than he is. Would you prefer Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw?"  
"Well," thought Harry. "Susan and Neville are both in Hufflepuff. Luna is alone in Ravenclaw. From what the professors said, Draco and Hermione are both going to be fine in their houses. So I guess to even things out, place me in Ravenclaw please. That way I can be there to help Luna. The professors stated she was hurt a lot in the old timeline. I don't want to see her hurt again."

"A wise choice," stated the hat with a chuckle. "I also enjoy what you are going to do to Dumbledore. I will assist where I can as well. Now as for your sorting, shall we end this? The Professors are all looking worried. If you are sure, better be RAVENCLAW!"  
It took close to five minutes before the hat loudly called out Ravenclaw for Harry. The four heads let out their breaths as Harry smiled at them all before heading to sit next to Luna. Dumbledore looked furious at this, but could do nothing about it for the moment.

What had everyone so confused was that Ronald Weasley was called and sent to Slytherin House. This has everyone confused as there had never been a Weasley in any house other than Gryffindor in nearly ten generations. Draco and his closest allies were already putting their heads together to make the boy's life miserable. Albus knew he had lots of work to do in the days coming up. The first would be to avoid Molly when she heard of her son's sorting.

Finally all of the students were sorted. Dumbledore made his normal opening speech. The six students weren't all that surprised to hear about the third floor corridor. Each had already been told about it from one of the professors. Harry looked to his friends and got their attention and a nod. As one, all six stood and made their way to the Head table. As one, they introduced themselves to the panel of professors and asked what they taught.

"We are just interested in hearing about the different subjects taught here at Hogwarts," explained Harry as he took Professor Sinistra's hand and shook it. "I am interested in learning as much as I can. Therefore, we are going to try and set an example and get to know the professors first hand. Hopefully other students will get the hint and try to learn more about the people who are teaching us and what skills they will pass to us."

The six made their way through the line of teachers. Severus was fighting hard to not laugh outright at Harry's antics. The other five were mirroring him to the letter and each student was being polite to each of the professors. He let his humor show when he shook hands with Harry and told him what subject he taught. The laughter was really hard when Harry and company got to Quirrell and Dumbledore.

"Oh Professor Quirrell," stated Harry politely. "It's nice to see you again. I hope that your purple turban has been cleaned well. It seems rather like someone placed a garlic spell on it or something. I am sorry to say that it is rather a harsh smell."  
"Mr. P-P-P-Potter," stammered Quirrell. "My t-t-turban has self-cleaning spells on it. It sh-sh-shouldn't smell like anything."  
"EWWWW!" said Hermione pretending to wipe Harry's face. "Say it and don't spray it Professor. You just spit in Harry's face. That is sooooo gross."

"You could have passed him the Salivator disease," admonished Luna wagging her finger at him. "You of all people should know that when you spit on someone that it could trigger the gummy bears. You should be ashamed of yourself. Positively Pretty Person Potter shouldn't have spit in his face. If you get purple pimples Harry, you should talk to Madam Pomfrey."  
As she said each word, she made sure to let saliva fly at the Defense Professor. It was due to years of Occlumency that Severus didn't outright laugh in amusement. Some of the other professors weren't having the same benefits and were outright banging their hands on the table in laughter. This only increased when Harry and company got to Dumbledore.  
"Ah," said Harry standing in front of Dumbledore and reaching to shake his hand. "It's Headmaster Gandalf right? How are you this evening? My name is Harry Potter. Shouldn't you be in the Middle Earth? I hear the hobbits are having trouble with me precious."

"Smeagle," corrected Hermione. "They are having trouble with Smeagle. He stole the ring. Headmaster Gandalf has to hurry back to Middle Earth to stop Bilbo from putting the ring on too many times. The flying horse ghosts will get him."  
"My name is Headmaster Dumbledore," said Albus with loads of confusion on his face. "I have no idea as to what you are talking about. I don't know Gandalf or this Smeagle you are referring to. Where is this Middle Earth you are referring to? I'm afraid that it isn't anywhere in the geography that I am familiar with."

"It's below Upper Earth and above Lower Earth," answered Draco playing along. HE said it in a voice that made it sound like it was supposed to be obvious. He and the rest knew who the characters were as he was told by Harry and Hermione. "You, as the White Wizard, should already know that Professor Gandalf. I hope that your business here gets done quickly so that you can help the hobbits. If you need more help remembering, I'm sure that Professor Snape or Healer Pomfrey can get you a memory potion."

"That won't be necessary Mr. Malfoy," assured Dumbledore trying to figure out what was going on. "I don't think my memory is deficient. Is there a reason for you all to be introducing yourselves to the staff? We already know who you are as you just got sorted."  
"I think that SpongeBob is tired," whispered Neville loudly to Luna. "He is being infested with Nargles. Lu can you help him with a necklace or something? He seems to be massively infested with them. We can't have the White Wizard infested with Nargles. I heard they kill hobbits."

"I'm sure I can come up with something for him this evening," assured Luna patting Dumbledore gently on the hand. "Not to worry Barney. We can save you. If you build it, they will come. You should really get some rest now. We need you to be ready for the Ministry. Minister Fudge will want you to taste his new recipe of baked goblin pie."  
"My Aunt told me about that," said Susan picking up the game. "She said that he spends hours in his kitchen and that Gandalf here has to eat many of the pies. It keeps him from having to return to Middle Earth. I think that she should look into getting him some help. We can't afford to have Gandalf away from there for long. His memory is just getting worse. I think the Minister might be adding a bad potion to the pies."

With that, the six kids made their way through the rest of the teachers. Minerva was seen laughing behind her napkin at the antics of the kids. Pomona made no pretense and was laughing outright at the kids. Filius was extremely amused as was Severus. Many of the other professors were laughing quietly. Dumbledore was just sitting there with a confused look on his face and a massive headache forming.

"I think we need to have a staff meeting," said Dumbledore to Minerva and Severus. "There is something wrong here and we have to figure out what it is. Who are SpongeBob and Barney? What in the world are Nargles, and what is this about Middle Earth? I am so confused right now."

"Not to worry Gandalf," said Minerva causing everyone to laugh. "We will figure it out with you me precious. The reason is because I love you. You love me. Let's get together as a happy family. We can all live together in a pineapple under the sea. Though I think they are right and you should avoid any and all food offered you by Cornelius."  
Severus and Pomona agreed with Minerva to the fullest. Filius was busy trying to control his mirth at the situation. Albus was sitting there practically pulling out his beard in frustration. To the students sitting there, they were confused as well, but they were also amused in spite of things. Those that were muggleborn or muggle raised were laughing as they knew who the characters were.

Later when the students were sent to their dorms, the teachers all sat together for the meeting that Dumbledore requested. He took a deep breath before he began with the meeting.  
"Harry Potter doesn't belong in Ravenclaw," said Dumbledore. "I will have to do a resort for him and Mr. Longbottom. Both boys belong in Gryffindor. Their parents were there. There has never been a Potter not in Gryffindor as the family is related to Godric."

"There are always reasons for the students to not follow their parents," admonished Minerva. "Just because all of the Potters were in Gryffindor doesn't mean that young Harry has to be. In case you forgot, Charlus Potter married Dorea Black. He was a Gryffindor, but she was a Slytherin. Not all family members end up in the same house. Sirius and Nymphadora are prime examples of Black family members NOT going to Slytherin."  
"I think it would be beneficial for Mr. Potter to NOT be in Gryffindor," said Severus smoothly. "This will make it easier for him to reach his full potential without the fight between Gryffindor and Slytherin. Isn't that what you are after with him? For him to reach his potential, he needs to be in a place where he can learn properly. With him not being in Gryffindor, I can teach him what he needs without blowing my cover to my Slytherin students. This benefits you as well for Harry Potter to not be where you want him."

"You may be on to something there Severus," murmured Albus in thought. "What about Mr. Longbottom? Let's also not forget that there is a Weasley in Slytherin. Molly will more than likely send a howler about that. That woman gets on my nerves. I never understood how she could be so loud all of the time."  
"Mr. Longbottom is entirely too shy to be a Gryffindor," stated Pomona thoughtfully. "Augusta contacted me and Minerva and asked that we keep a close eye on him due to being so painfully shy. I think being in a house where people like Cedric Diggory and his friends can keep an eye on him and help him come out of his shell would be helpful. Gryffindor won't be able to help in this capacity. Besides, Alice was a Puff."

"That's right," pointed out Minerva. "His mother was a Puff and not a Lion. As for Mr. Weasley, I was watching him tonight. The boy has no manners what so ever. He is crude and gluttonous from what I have witnessed. He went out of his way to spur his table mates. I'm rather surprised that any of the Weasleys since William and Charles haven't all ended up in Slytherin. Percy is as ambitious as they come, and the twins are too sneaky for their own good."   
"This brings me to a point that I want to bring up," said Severus. "Draco has informed me that Ronald tried to get them all in trouble on the train. Mr. Potter didn't want to say anything, but Draco had no such qualms. Apparently Mr. Weasley entered their cabin and helped himself to their sweets. When asked to leave, he told them no and that Mr. Potter needed to leave with him or he would get Percy to get them all in trouble as he was a prefect."

"Hmm," said Minerva with narrowed eyes. "This had better not have your fingers on it Albus or I will remove them from your hand. Leave Mr. Potter alone or you will face my wrath. Consider this your only warning on the matter. Potter, Bones, Longbottom, Lovegood, Granger, and Malfoy are NOT to be in a meeting with you without one of us present. The six of them seems to have formed a friendship that I will NOT see broken."  
Albus went to cut her off, but the rest of the professors backed her up on it. He knew he couldn't get around all of his teachers, so he just let the matter go for the moment.


	4. Classes Begin

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  ** _Author's Note:_** _This chapter was originally written by StormyFireDragon._

The next day, Harry and Luna were sitting eagerly waiting on their schedule. Over at the Gryffindor and Slytherin tables, Draco and Hermione were also eagerly waiting for their time table as well. Neville and Susan were already reading theirs. Professor Flitwick handed them their schedule. Both looked over the list and smiled.  
Their first class of the day was potions with the Gryffindors. Harry, Luna, and Hermione followed the map that was given to them and made their way down to the lab. Severus was patiently waiting for his students. Unlike the rest of the professors, he let his prefects do some of the menial jobs such as passing out schedules and leading the students around. He guided the trio to some tables in the front of the room.

"Due to your glasses, you will need to be closer to the board until your eyes are fully healed," explained Severus. "This will help you see the instructions better. The steam from the potions and such make it difficult for people like you to read the board if you are too far to the back. Did you all read ahead in your books as we suggested?"

When he got three affirmatives, he smiled as he waited for the rest of the class to arrive. It wasn't long before the entire class was assembled and ready to go. Severus asked a few questions of the students and was pleased when Harry, Hermione, Luna, and a few others were able to answer the questions quickly and thoroughly. He had no problem awarding them points for their ability to learn and stay ahead. When class was finished, he smiled with pride as Harry and his two friends produced perfect potions. He assigned homework and sent the group on their way. 

Making a quick note so he could share with the others, he went on to his next class.  
Harry and Luna had Transfiguration with the Slytherins next. This was a class Harry was looking forward to as well as he learned from Minerva that James was a prodigy in the subject. The class assembled and Draco sat next to Harry in the front along with Blaise Zabini. Five minutes after the class started, Ronald Weasley entered the room and with a sneer at some of the people, he took his seat.

Minerva was sitting on her desk in her animagus form. She watched silently as Harry, Luna, and Draco talked quietly amongst themselves while waiting for class to begin. All three knew she was sitting there as Luna mentioned it. Before sitting, they each scratched her behind the ears with affection.

Once Ronald sat, she jumped off of her desk and transformed in midair. She stood there for a moment as the applause sounded before she became the harsh teacher she was famous for. With a glare, she rounded on Ronald and let him have it for his tardiness.

"Ten points will be awarded to Ravenclaw for Mr. Potter and Miss Lovegood knowing that it was me sitting there," she told the class. "Five points will be awarded to Slytherin house for the same reason thanks to Mr. Malfoy also knowing. Five points will be deducted from Slytherin for Mr. Weasley being late by five minutes."  
"You can't do that," hissed Weasley in annoyance before she could continue. "Why do you think Potter or Malfoy deserves points when they didn't do anything except listen to Looney Lovegood? I will be talking with Professor Dumbledore about you taking points from me. He will reverse them and give me some in exchange for this."

"That will be another ten points for calling Miss Lovegood names," hissed Minerva right back. "From there, I will take twenty points for questioning me in my class. I will take a further twenty points for threatening me with the Headmaster. If you EVER threaten me again, you will be suspended at best and your wand snapped at worst. Do I make myself clear to you Mr. Weasley? Just because you are friends with Dumbledore doesn't mean you get special privileges in this school. Now sit down, shut up, and pay attention."

Ronald went to open his mouth again, but she glared at him until he sat. Draco and his friends were already discussing how they were going to get even with the fool. McGonagall gave them a friendly reminder to not get caught and to not do lasting damage as it would cause the professors to have lots of unnecessary paperwork to fill out. From there, she started her class.  
She had them take lots of notes on what it was like to transfigure something. From there, she passed out some matches and had them attempt to transfigure them. She held her breath as she watched Harry get it right on the first try. Draco and Luna followed shortly after. She gave all three of them points for their success. She awarded others in the class points when they had their own successes. Inside, she was swelling with pride as she saw her charges succeed.

She handed out homework to the class. Weasley had another go at the trio and ended up losing more points and gaining a week's worth of detention on top of it. Severus would rake the fool over the coals for his attitude and causing Slytherin house to lose all of those points. Some things are just wrong with the new timeline she thought to herself. Hopefully there would be more good points to come. However, she figured most of the change was due to Harry not being friends with Weasley and it changed the boy as he was known in the old line for his jealousy issues.

After lunch, Harry and Luna went to Herbology which was shared with Hufflepuff. Neville and Susan sat with Harry and Luna and waited while Professor Sprout gave the lecture on the types of plants that they would be working with. When she was done, she led them to the plants they would be working with that day and had them get to work on harvesting them for ingredients for the potions lab. The quartet worked well together and she smiled as she saw Harry and Neville helping the girls with their work. Pomona knew that Harry did the lawns for the Dursleys and she was quite aware that Neville was a prodigy in this subject. When the quartet was the first to finish their project, she was surprised to see them help others that were near them. She awarded all four points for their dedication and assistance.

Their last class for the day was Charms. This class was a mix of all four houses as Filius was capable of handling all of them at once during their term as first years. He took time to give the lecture and with a wave of his wand, he placed feathers in front of each. It wasn't long before Harry and Hermione were making their feathers chase each other around the air. The rest of their group quickly caught up and the game increased. Filius changed their feathers to different colors and told them to carry on. He watched as the teens got their precision and such under control so that they could play tag with their feathers. He noticed that this made most of the other students determined to enjoy the fun as well.  
Of course when things were going well, there were those who just wanted to cause trouble. Ronald Weasley was sitting next to Hermione and she was trying to help him cast the spell correctly. She was verbally assaulted as a result.

"You are jabbing your wand instead of flicking it," she explained patiently to him. "That's where you are going wrong with it. Your enunciation is a bit off, but the spell should work all the same as some people speak with heavier accents and such. You should be able to do it if you put enough thought into it."

"Shut up you annoying bucktoothed beaver mudblood," snapped Ronald loudly halting the progress of the class. "You are nothing but piss under my shoe. Keep your mouth closed and NEVER speak to me again. I don't need or want your help. You are nothing and always will be nothing. The sooner you learn that, the sooner you can leave this school to those that are better than you in more ways than one."

Silence could be heard as the rest of Hermione's group let their feathers fall upon hearing him speak to her like that. Even Filius was at a loss for a moment at the blatant disrespect the Weasley boy gave to a promising student. Before he got a chance to say anything, Harry spoke up and gave him the proverbial slap down.

"Well then, I guess we will just let you fail," he snapped. "You had better NEVER let me hear you call her that foul word again. That was not only degrading, but totally uncalled for. My mother was a muggleborn and she died a hero. She was a Charms Mistress as well as a Potions Mistress. Hermione is better than you as she has more brains in her little toe than you have in your whole body. Your mouth and attitude will see you alone during your tenure here at Hogwarts. For once, I will pass my own threat. She is my friend. If you EVER speak to her again in any form, I will make sure your mouth doesn't work for you ever again."

"I believe that you will lose fifty points for your mouth," stated Filius to Ronald. "You will also serve detention with me for one month. If I EVER, hear you utter that horrible word again, I will see to it that you are expelled from Hogwarts. As it is, you may pack your bag and leave. You will receive a failing grade for today. Mr. Potter, I will be removing five points from you for threatening him. However, due to why you did it, I am awarding you back those five points. In the future, please let us professors deal with the situation. Mr. Weasley, I believe that I gave you an order."

Everyone watched as Ronald walked out of the classroom. Harry and the others were busy reassuring Hermione that everything was alright and that she was better than that. Even Filius had approached her to tell her not to worry about his mouth. He also gave Harry a friendly pat on the back for his timely actions in defending his friend. This showed just how different Harry was in this timeline as he was never so outspoken when it came to defending his friends. Oh, Filius knew that Harry was a defender in the old timeline, but not as quick and not as vociferous.

"Remember that we told you all that he was a problem," whispered the diminutive Professor. "He will continue to be obnoxious until we Heads of House send him packing. He was sort of like this in the last timeline as well. The only exception is that he never called you that foul word. Don't let it get to you and don't let it bother you. While it was uncalled for, it came from someone that isn't worth the time to get upset over this for. Professor Snape will be dealing with him when he learns just who is losing all the points for Slytherin House."  
This made Harry and his group all smile. It was moments later when the colored feathers were once again racing around the room. Filius let them continue with their activity until class ended. 

While he was walking around the room helping those who still hadn't gotten it, he watched as Hermione smiled and rejoined the fun. This would be one time where she didn't have to worry about locking herself away and being attacked by the troll again.  
Harry was sitting with Luna in the Great Hall eating when Dumbledore approached him. Severus and Minerva quickly stood to intervene, but the teens took the matter right out of their hands. What ensued was something that would make them laugh for a long time to come. It was nothing short of brilliance at its best and a combination of all four houses working together for the first time since the founders themselves walked the halls.

"Harry I would like to talk with you in my office when we are done with dinner," stated Dumbledore ignoring Minerva and Severus. "You and I will talk about your sorting and we will get you into your proper house. You are supposed to be in Gryffindor. You don't belong in Ravenclaw. We will be doing the same for Mr. Longbottom."

"Hello Gandalf," stated Harry with a smile ignoring the promise of a house change. Harry knew that the Heads wouldn't allow it. "My name is Harry? Why hasn't anyone told me? I thought my name was Princess Pretty Pony. What's a Gryffindor? Is it a door with a gryphon on it? That would be awesome to see. Don't you agree Luna?"  
"That would be cool to see Me Precious," she agreed in a weird voice that had Dumbledore raising his eyebrows into his hairline. "As for the Ravenclaw, people should really stop killing the birds for their feet. Then to place people in their feet is kind of gross if you think about it. Why would they do that Princess Pretty Pony? Gandalf, did you kill the ravens? That is a mean thing to do, you know!"

"Miss Lovegood, what are you talking about?" asked Albus rubbing his temples fighting the headache that was appearing. "His name is Mr. Potter. I haven't killed any ravens. I don't know who Gandalf is as my name is Albus Dumbledore. Gryffindor isn't a door with a gryphon on it. It's one of the four houses here in Hogwarts."

"They have houses in Hogwarts?" asked Draco from his seat next to Luna. "Purple People Eater, why didn't you tell me this? All this time, I thought this was a castle. How could you not tell me that this was really four houses stuck together? Do you think they used magic to stick them together? Maybe I should contact mother and father and see what they can do about Gandalf here changing the castle into four houses."

"Not to worry Meteor Child," assured Hermione patting Draco on the hand. "I'm sure that they would have told us eventually that they lied about this being a castle. I didn't know or I would have told you about it. Do you think that we should go with Princess Pretty Pony to Gandalf's office? We wouldn't want Princess Pretty Pony to be sent to the ogre mines. The elves and dwarves of middle earth would have a problem with this. What do you think Bubba Gump?"

"I think you are right Purple People Eater," said Neville from across from her. "Gandalf would probably send Princess Pretty Pony to the mines. We all know that Gandalf has limited power here as he is in the wrong plane of existence. I still haven't figured out yet how he got here. Maybe we should ask the Professors."  
"Good idea," said Susan standing and speaking loudly to the head table. "Say Professors! Gandalf wants Princess Pretty Pony to head to his office after dinner. Purple People Eater, Meteor Child, Moon Dust, Bubba Gump and I all have concerns about this. We don't want him to send Princess Pretty Pony to the ogre mines. What should we do? We all want to go with him to the office. Gandalf just told us that the swapped the castle with four houses. We should have been told we wouldn't be in a castle. He also told us that there is no such thing as a door with a gryphon on it."

"Not to worry Boo-Boo Kitty," assured Minerva fighting with everything she had within her to not laugh at the game the teens were using to drive Albus crazy. "We won't allow Gandalf to send Princess Pretty Pony to the mines. If Gandalf has anything to say to your classmate, he can take it up with me, Mixer, Thorn, Color-Code, or Voldesnort. We can't allow our students to be alone with Gandalf. It was stated before school started that if he wanted to speak to a student, that he would have a Head of House present with certain students. This is now being extended to every student in this school."

Towards the end of her speech, her voice grew cold as she looked at Dumbledore. The old wizard had a blasting headache. The other professors were wondering what was going on as well. Severus and Pomona quickly passed word to the other professors to meet them in the staff room so that they could explain what was going on. Quirrell was absent, so he wasn't even taken into consideration.

"Why are these children calling each other names?" asked Albus. "We don't tolerate that here at Hogwarts. I am deducting ten points from each of the four houses for this infraction. I am also deducting ten points from Gryffindor, Slytherin, and Hufflepuff for not sitting at their own tables. I am deducing ten points from Harry and Luna for starting all of this to begin with. I insist that this lunacy discontinue before I get really angry."

"We are countering those point losses," stated Severus angrily. "There are no rules stating that the students can't sit with others at other tables. In fact, the rules encourage members of other houses TO sit together. Not all families are in the same house and therefore, they have the right to sit together at meals. The only time the rules state that you have to sit at your own table is for the opening and leaving feasts. Therefore I am awarding ten points to each house for companionship with those outside of their own house on top of the points you took from them."

"GANDALF!" snapped Minerva sounding like a bullwhip in October. "YOU ARE NOT TO CALL THE STUDENTS NAMES. YOU AND I WILL BE HAVING WORDS ABOUT THIS IN YOUR OFFICE IN TEN MINUTES. They are NOT idiots and I refuse to let them be called such. Ten points will be awarded to Ravenclaw for both Harry and Luna for being called idiots. I will give ten points to each of the other three houses just because I feel like it. Get away from those students or feel my wrath."  
Here she drew a line across her throat to indicate what she wanted. This caused some of the students to laugh. Dumbledore looked at her like she was crazy, but she didn't back down. The other professors were standing there with her backing her and this didn't go unnoticed by Albus either.

"If the students want to give each other nicknames and such, you can't tell them they can't," stated Pomona speaking next. "None of the students seem to mind the names they are being called as they are all using them. Therefore, unless one of these students complains about it, then you have no right to tell them anything. You and I will also be having words in your office Barney. You will NOT be approaching my kids again or so help me you will wish I were a nun with a guitar."

"We have already told you that, Princess Pretty Pony and his friends are under our PERSONAL protections," hissed the normally cheerful Filius. Every student in the Great Hall was busy looking around with interest and confusion hearing the cheerful professor use venom on the Headmaster. "If we have to tell you again about harassing the students, we will be forced to take this to the next level. You have no power here. Now be gone Glenda, before I drop a house on you."

"NO!" said Draco horrified deciding to add one more throb to the migraine that Albus had. "You said we were living in four houses instead of a castle. If Professor Color Code drops one on Gandalf, the house will get blood on it. Who will clean it? Please Boo-Boo Kitty. Don't let him get one of the houses dirty. The students living in the house won't have any place to live."  
"Don't worry Meteor Child," assured Susan patting him on the arm. "Professor Mixer won't let a house get dirty. Dobby will clean up any mess the blood makes. If he needs help, I'm sure my  
Aunt will send one of our elves to help clean the mess. We don't want a house to get dirty either. We won't let the students not have a house to live in."  
By this time, Albus was so mad that he looked close to having an aneurism. He left the hall in a huff mumbling about "nasty children with brain damage". Once he was gone from the hall, Minerva looked to the assembly of children.

"I know you are all confused, but we have a reasonable explanation for what is occurring here," she assured the students. "Mr. Potter and his companions will be able to give you a better idea of what is going on when you return to your common rooms. We can only do so much before we get into trouble. We Heads of House will explain to the staff what is going on. You as students are to just continue to get the best grades you can. Harry, Susan, Neville, Luna, Hermione, and Draco are only allowed to tell you so much. So please don't badger them too badly. They will tell you what is allowed and nothing more. If you don't get all of the information that you desire, then it sucks to be you."

"NONE of you are to EVER go into a meeting with the Headmaster without having a professor with you at all times," stated Severus. "Once we get to the bottom of some of what is going on, we will tell you what we can as we can. For the moment, just trust that there is something going on and we are working to ensure your continued safety here in the castle. All we are asking is that you trust us a bit longer until we CAN tell you what we know. Slytherin house is to know that when curfew hits that we will be having a house meeting. It is mandatory that all Snakes be there or else."

From there, the students finished their dinners quietly. They were all pondering and whispering to their friends about what was going on. Each one was chomping at the bit to find out the gossip surrounding the six teens that sat together for every meal at the different house tables.

Severus and Filius left with the professors to explain to them what was going on. Minerva and Pomona headed to the Headmaster's office to tear him up. The prefects and older students made sure that all younger members made it to their dorms safely. No one straggled as each person wanted to know what was going on and what all that was in the Great Hall.  
"We four Heads have been given an opportunity to save the Wizarding World from peril," began Severus to the rapt attention of the other teachers. "Suffice to say that we have been sent back in time by four of those six teens to reshape the world. Dumbledore is fifty percent behind most of what is wrong with our society. We are trying to put a stop to both him and the Dark Lord who is the other fifty percent."

"Voldemort is here in the castle," admitted Filius to the horror of the other professors. "He is currently possessing Quirrell. We are trying to figure out how to get him safely out of the man without killing Quirrell in the process. Septima, we need you to start working on an Arithmancy formula for us to aid us in evicting the wraith from his body. Bathsheba, we need runes to help defend this castle better from things like wraiths and so forth for the future. Please add in something that will stop dementors as in two years, the idiot Minister will send them here to protect the castle. The more of us that ban together to stop this means the easier it will be for our students to have some form of normal life. That life doesn't involve fighting dark wizards or stupid ones."

"The students should be worried about grades and quidditch," intoned Severus. "They shouldn't be worried about who is due to inherit, who is marrying who, who has more money, and what army they are going to be a part of. It isn't healthy or right.  
"I was wondering why Severus was taking such a liking to Harry Potter of all people," mused Chastity Burbage thoughtfully. "It seems that only a week before term began Severus was calling the poor boy every derogative thing he could come up with. What happened so far, and why are the kids calling each other names? For the matter, why are you all calling Albus by the name of Gandalf?"

Severus waved his wand and caused an image of Gandalf the wizard to appear before them. He quickly went on to explain what they knew of Harry's home life. From there, they explained to the other professors what was going on with the name calling and other things. Last but not least, they told the other professors some of the machinations that Dumbledore had planned in the previous life line.

"We don't want Harry Potter to have to fight the Dark Lord," stated Filius with conviction. "There is no reason that a child has to battle the most feared Dark Lord in history. We also don't feel that Albus has the best interest of the boy. He raised Harry to be a pig for slaughter in the previous line. We want to change that. Weasley is causing lots of problems. He has lost more points than any other student and this is only the first few days of term. His family, bar Fred and George, has been accessing his accounts. We put a stop to it."

"We also found out that Dumbledore has been paying the muggle relatives of Harry to abuse him each month," stated Severus with a disgusted look on his face. "We also put a stop to that as well. Lucius went and made sure that the four Heads of House have temporary guardianship of Mr. Potter. From what I have seen of him this time, he is studious, gentle, and intelligent. He was similar in the previous time, but Albus put him through all kinds of trials. We won't allow that to happen again."  
The other professors all talked about what they could do to help. Severus and Filius made copies of the names being used and who they were in the muggle world. They made copies of the books for the people to read to know who Gandalf was and such. From there, the professors made their way into the castle to deal with the situation as best as they could.

_...MEANWHILE..._

Minerva and Pomona stalked into the Head office with Poppy coming up behind them. The medi-witch wanted a piece of the action and was ready to strip flesh off of the old wizard. Albus was sitting behind his desk rubbing his temple to alleviate the headache that had formed in the Great Hall.

"What do you think you were doing?" asked Minerva with enough venom in her voice to poison a whole village. "You were told to leave Harry and his friends alone. You are NOT to ask any student to come to this office alone with you from here on out. Should you go against our wishes once more, I will have no choice but to have the board remove you from the castle. We are working hard to erase the rivalries between houses and you almost ruined our work before we barely got started. How dare you?"

"You will do what we tell you to do with concern to the students from here on out, or you will feel our wrath," hissed the normally passive Pomona. "We are taking our jobs seriously and we will NOT have you undermining our hard work. Harry Potter is OFF LIMITS to you old man. You will not play any more games where that child is concerned. He is HIGHLY intelligent, very loyal, loving, and generous. Thanks to YOU, he was harmed his entire life. It will NOT happen again. Should I catch you, you will be sorry you were ever born. Do I make myself clear to you?"

"I have worked with Severus and the healers to make sure he gets to and stays at his correct weight," stated Poppy. "We have managed to undo most of the malnutrition that was caused due to lack of meals. We are working to correct his eyesight that was caused by blunt force trauma to his head. We are also having him take potions to strengthen his bones and muscles thanks to the years of abuse. I'm going to add to the statements being made. You WILL leave the boy alone, or you will understand why I am the best healer around."

"Do you understand what we are telling you Albus?" asked Minerva. "We want you to leave Harry alone. You should be more concerned about your possessed Defense professor rather than a child that is top in all of his classes at the moment. Quirrell is trying to get around our defenses to get to the stone. You need to deal with that. I would hate to have to transfigure some of your body parts for going against my wishes. Consider that statement your last warning on the matter."

With that, the three women left to deal with their evening duties. Minerva made it a point to get Harry's cloak back from the old fool before long. She knew that he was using Harry's wand, but for the moment, it wasn't a huge problem as Harry didn't really need the wand. She headed to her office to see what was going on with the others. She knew that either Filius or Severus would fill in both her and Pomona as to what the staff said.

While this was going on, Harry and his friends were already telling others in their houses what was going on. Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff had an easier time as neither house had a spy for Dumbledore in it. Hermione and Draco made sure that when they told their story that the people who didn't need to know were not around. Slytherin jumped on board for the most part. There were quite a few Dark Lord Supporters, but many were relieved to know that there was a strong possibility that he wouldn't return to cause their families more harm. Causing havoc for Dumbledore was right up their ally.

Hermione was having more trouble than most. Percy had his nose so far up her ass that she felt slightly violated. This was when she remembered that the professors said that Fred and George were loyal to Harry and the cause. Using her intelligence, she called forth the Red Terrors and explained what was going on to them, Seamus, Dean, and the girls of her dorm. Upon hearing what Hermione had to say, Fred and George quickly became furious. They enlisted the help of the quidditch team to help drive both Quirrell and Dumbledore crazy.

"This means war!" hissed Fred. "How dare they do that to an innocent child? Who do they think they are taking money that doesn't belong to them? They won't know what hit them when we are done with them. Thanks for sharing this with us Hermione. You have our gratitude."  
With that, the war took a whole new turn. Life for two adults in the castle would make a saint weep.


	5. Defence Against Stupidity

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  ** _Author's Note:_** _This chapter was originally written by StormyFireDragon._

That evening, Severus was pacing in front of his house. He knew he had to deal with Weasley and the fact that the boy lost Slytherin House over a hundred points in just two days. This was not something that Severus could counter as the infractions were against the staff and Hermione. When Severus heard what Ronald called Hermione, he nearly blew a gasket right then and there. No muggleborn witch or wizard should have to hear that word.

"It appears that one of our numbers feels that it's ok to back talk a teacher," began Severus. "I am referring to Mr. Weasley who not only showed up late to Professor McGonagall's class, but threatened her with the Headmaster because she took points from him for it. On top of that, he has been verbally assaulting students just because he feels like it. From today forward, the word mudblood is to be banned from your lips. Anyone caught using it will find themselves scrubbing my lab floors with their own toothbrush at the barest minimal. As it is, when Mr. Weasley finishes his week with Professor McGonagall, he will do his month with Professor Flitwick. From there, he will serve another month with me."

"He got a month from Professor Flitwick?" asked Marcus Flint in shock. "He never gives anyone detention. Weasley must have really upset him to get a month. How many points did he lose?"  
"He lost fifty just from Flitwick," answered Draco. "He lost about sixty five from McGonagall. We know that she is head of Gryffindor, but she is fair when giving or taking points. She gave me five points just for knowing she was sitting on her desk in her animagus form when she knew Luna told me. If that doesn't say fair, then we need to change our definition."

"When you deal with Weasley, just remember that you can't kill him or do permanent damage," reminded Severus. "I don't want to have to deal with his mother. She is known as the Howler queen for a reason. I don't wish to have a howler sent to me due to you all hurting him beyond normal. Please keep your damage to a minimal. However, keep in mind that he has already lost lots of points that will be VERY hard to make up. Professor Sprout took twenty points from him as well if you care to remember. I am also going to take twenty points and you know I don't remove points from this house. Good luck Mr. Weasley. You have already made yourself a pariah here in Slytherin house."

With that, Severus sneered at the redhead before leaving the dorm room. As he was walking away, he could hear the screams from the idiot as his housemates got their revenge. Severus vowed to return in an hour or so to make sure the fool was alive. With a sigh, Severus made his way to speak with the other three heads. They were exchanging notes on the six. Apparently, Harry was the top. This surprised everyone as Hermione had been the top of their year in the previous line. This just told everyone that the muggles harmed Harry mentally as well as physically.

Later that evening, he was once more sitting with the professors. He felt that it was time for a thorough explanation as to why the four Heads were behaving the way they were and so forth. Once everyone settled down, he took the floor and began to explain.  
"We told you that the four of us came from the future," he told them. "Well, I felt that we need to tell you everything. Dumbledore sent Harry to live with his muggle relatives as you well know. This wasn't supposed to happen."

"His parents had already set a list of people in place before they died," added Filius. "We learned that Dumbledore signed as witness and placed Harry with the Dursleys anyway. The will stated that he was to go nowhere near those horrible people. Albus ignored the will. We found out via Amelia Bones that they were told by Albus that they could hurt the boy all they wanted so long as he was alive and somewhat healthy before arriving here."

"By the time that Harry, Draco, Hermione, and Luna cast the magic to send us back, the war had gone all out," stated Minerva. "Severus faked his own death with the help of Harry and Hermione to avoid being killed by the Dark Lord. Thankfully Severus knows how to make golems and was able to place some of his magic into the replica of himself for Nagini to bite. This saved Severus. The rest of us were still here in Hogwarts fighting to keep Tom out."  
"Harry defended us by taking a second Killing Curse," whispered Pomona lost in memory. "The horcrux in his head kept him from being killed and ended up killing the horcrux. Harry's sacrifice was able to save the rest of us. This was when we decided that we were going to come back to the past and make sure that none of this happens again."

"Dumbledore was killed and we were losing," stated Filius. "Some of you were already dead. Others of you were on the run. We decided to run long enough through this castle to find a place for the four teens to cast the spell needed to send us back."  
"How is it that Draco and Harry worked together on this?" asked Rolanda. "From what you two are saying, they were enemies from the get go. Isn't that what you told us earlier?"

"They despised each other upon sight," admitted Severus. "However when Lucius and Narcissa were marked for death, Draco turned to the one person that could and would help them. He turned to Harry. Hermione was the top student and she knew the library better than anyone. She found the spell needed to send a person or small number of people back in time. They had the option to send themselves back, but at the time, we didn't think that was a good idea."

"We therefore decided that WE would come back and reshape the future," stated Minerva shrugging her shoulders. "We knew that the four teens had more power than we did even if they were tired from all of the fighting. Hogwarts bonded with Harry and fueled his power. He was the anchor for the spell thanks to the castle. Hermione and Draco were able to use their magic together to make the spell take root. Luna was able to push the spell in the right direction due to her having seer abilities. Thus we decided to come back and make sure that they would all live to have a better life than originally planned for them."  
"You did a heritage check on Mr. Potter at Gringotts," confirmed Poppy. "Did you get one for Miss Granger and the others?"

"There was no need," answered Severus. "We know the history of the other teens as they stayed in the magical world. Miss Granger is a muggleborn. We remember that from the old timeline. Mr. Potter was absent from the heritage potion class. Thus we didn't know at the time that he was related to Salazar and Godric. We knew that he needed to know his heritage to stop some of the theft from his vaults and such."

"What is the purpose of allowing the kids to drive Dumbledore crazy?" asked Chastity Burbage. "It would seem like that is a dangerous thing to do. We can drive the old fool crazy without endangering the students. I do have to say that they are making it extremely funny. The way they are going about it just barely keeps them out of trouble, but they are almost at the point of giving the Headmaster a heart attack or something."

"The students aren't in any danger," assured Minerva smiling. "They seem to be using their intellect to make the old man wonder if he is really going off the deep end or not. If we see that they are starting to get too carried away, we will pull them back. However, Hermione came to see me before I arrived. Dumbledore is in for more trouble than he thought."  
"Why?" asked Septima. "What is going on that will give Dumbledore more trouble? Should we be worried?"

"Oh I would be worried, but not for the school or yourselves," answered Minerva. "Dumbledore is now the target of the Weasley Twins. He is in for loads of pain and suffering if those two have anything to say about it."  
"Oh dear," stated Severus with a fake show of concern. "I just hope they don't get their hands on the prank potions book I have. It would just be horrible if what I did in school should get into their hands. Then again, I may just give it to Harry and Draco and let them have some fun. I happen to know that Minerva has the prank books that were written by James Potter and his friends. It would be bad if those books just happen to get left in an area where the Red Terrors can find them."

"That reminds me," asserted Minerva. "I have to borrow the map from the twins so that we can make copies of it. We know that Harry won't be wandering the castle like he used to, but we still need to make sure that we can keep an eye on Dumbledore and Voldemort. I still have to get Harry's cloak to him and we need to get that wand away from Albus as it also belongs to Harry."

The professors talked long into the night about what they were going to do to assist in not only driving Dumbledore crazy, but getting Voldemort out of the castle. They discussed what they could add to the protections for the stone as well. It was decided that they would just retrieve the stone and send it back to the Flamels. Severus had the ingenious idea to replace the real stone with a fake and add to what they already did. As they had already talked with Harry and his group about not going after the stone, they decided to get to work later and add to what was already there.

Defence class was a torture for Harry this particular day. Quirrell was staring at Harry constantly making the young wizard uncomfortable. Harry already knew that the man was waiting for him to mess up so that he could assign detention to him or something along those lines. Harry already knew that one of the four Heads would take the detention for themselves if it was warranted and dismiss Harry if it wasn't.

"One would think that he is in love with you or something," stated Hermione as they left. "He keeps on staring at you like you are something under a microscope or something. I wish he would stop staring at you. It's starting to creep me out and I'm not the one being stared at. Did he try anything today? If he did, I'm sure that we can do something to get even. We are the smartest of the bunch right now."

"He tried to get into my mind today," reported Harry sadly. "I have to tell the professors. They said if he tried that I was to make sure they knew about it. Thankfully, I was able to look away quickly, but I felt him trying to get in. Hopefully Aunt Amelia gets us those charms soon. He will only get more insistent from here on out. Dumbledore is standing over there. No doubt he will try again to make things unpleasant. I hope you all have some more material that we can use to drive him crazy with."  
True to his word, when the students sat for their meal, Dumbledore stood and began his newest diabolical plan.

"We have a couple of resorts of students that we have to deal with today," called Dumbledore to the assembled students. "When I call your name, you will come forward so that we can get you into your proper houses. First will be Ronald Weasley. Please come forward and get your resorting done."

Ronald sauntered up to the hat and glared at the professors.  
"You lot better get your game plan right," he stated. "I'm tired of you all taking points from me for telling the truth and such. Professor Dumbledore reversed all of the points you took from me last night."  
"No he didn't" stated Minerva through gritted teeth. "The magic of the castle won't allow him to do that. In fact, when all of this nonsense is over with, you will have earned yourself another month of detention. I will further take away any activities outside of class from you."

"This means that you will eat, sleep, and be in class only," added Severus through gritted teeth of his own. "You are in so much trouble that I doubt that you will be in anything other than detention for the rest of your life. Now be silent and sit down so we can get this nonsense over with. We have better things to do with our time other than to pander to your idiocy."  
"Let's get on with the sorting shall we?" asked Dumbledore. "We can discuss this issue in my office after we are done here. Fergus, please resort Mr. Weasley into his correct house."

"NO!" snapped the hat. "He doesn't fit into ANY of the houses. He has NONE of the qualities that the founders were looking for in their students. I only placed in him Slytherin as Severus has the best chance to help him. Obviously I was wrong. Therefore, being you are interfering with my job SpongeBob, I hereby declare that Ronald Weasley will not belong to ANY house. No sorting- No Hogwarts. I hope you are happy Barney. The boy has no intelligence at all. He has no loyalty to anyone other than himself. He has no ambition as he wants others to do it for him. He has no bravery as he hides behind his mother and the Headmaster."

The color drained from Ronald's face as the color of his house affiliation disappeared from his clothing. He looked to Albus and saw the shock on the face of the Headmaster. Albus quickly schooled his features and had Ronald stand to the side.

"We will fix this in my office later," he assured the boy. "Right now I would like for Neville Longbottom to stand up for his resort. Please make haste and come up for your resorting."  
"Excuse me Mr. Rumpelstiltskin Sir, but my Gran didn't request a resorting for me," said Neville politely. "She and I are both happy with the house I'm in. Therefore, I have to turn down your request Sir. I hope that Mother Goose doesn't get to upset with you Sir. I would hate for you to have to splat."

"Oh uh," stated Dumbledore getting very confused.  
"Is that the letter of the day?" asked Harry with a smile. "What is the number for the day? What is the color for the day? Is uh the word of the day? Tell us please."  
"What?" asked Dumbledore looking at Harry. Harry and his friends for their part launched into the song for Sesame Street. This left many purebloods confused, but none of the students said anything due to knowing what was going on.  
"I think today's color should be blue," declared Hermione loudly to the students. "What number should be today's number Babybop?"

"Six," declared Draco answering her. "There are six of us, so six. Say Little Boy Blue, did you know that today is Tuesday?"  
"Today is Tuesday," repeated Dumbledore with so much confusion on his face that he wasn't sure what to do. This only added to the game being played by Harry and his friends. The professors were sitting back with smug grins on their faces. Quirrell was just as confused as Dumbledore was, but the Dark Lord was enjoying watching the old man flounder through Quirrell's eyes.

"Are you going to play the repeat game, Jack?" asked Luna standing next and pointing a firm finger at Dumbledore while glaring. "You are wasting lots of time by repeating everything. We KNOW that today is Tuesday. We didn't need you to tell us."  
"Oh," said Dumbledore trying to wrap his mind around what was going on.

"I believe we already know that O is the letter of the day," stated Minerva to the continued amusement of the other professors. "Before you repeat yourself again Jack, yes we know that O is the letter of the day. We know that blue is the color of the day. We know that six is the number of the day. We also know that today is Tuesday. Are we done with all of this? I'm sure the students would love to eat lunch before the time expires. If they miss lunch, I'm sure they won't be happy as it will be your fault for delaying them."  
"We still have to resort Mr. Potter," stated Dumbledore coming to his senses at long last. "He isn't in his right house either. Mr. Longbottom, you will need to be resorted."  
"Pink!" called out Harry before turning to his plate. "I want a pink plate. I also want our Defence professor to not scan my mind again. I also think Jack Splat should eat some fat. Gandalf is way too thin."

"PURPLE!" yelled Luna. "Our new color is PURPLE. I also think that Jack over there shouldn't run up the hill with Jill. She fell. I think he pushed her."  
"WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT?" screamed Hermione pointing at Dumbledore. "Jill is one of my best friends in the whole wide world. You are a cruel man. I hope her mother sues you for murder."  
With that Hermione threw herself into her seat and pretended to wail as loud as she could. Susan and Luna quickly went to her to console her. Some of the other girls glared at Dumbledore and went to assist them. Many of the students knew what was going on and wanted in on the game. This was exactly what they were waiting on. Many started shouting out colors and numbers.

"Miss Granger," called out Dumbledore only to get about fifty raspberries blown at him. "Mr. Potter! That wasn't necessary. Ten points will be deducted from Ravenclaw. You will serve detention with me for a week if you do not stand up and come here for your resorting."  
"MEG!" called Harry before blowing another raspberry. "I'll be right there Homer. I have to make sure that Maggie is alright. You really shouldn't have pushed Jill. Did you know that her head totally came off when she fell? It's no wonder that Maggie is so upset. Jill was her bestest friend ever."  
"Mr. Potter," called Dumbledore again.

"Meg!" called Harry right back after blowing another raspberry. "I said I will be right there."  
After patting Hermione on the back, Harry stood and went over to the sorting hat. He picked it up, placed it on his head, and went back to the Ravenclaw table and sat down. Dumbledore watched this with a surprised look on his face. Nearly all of the professors were fighting as hard as they could to not laugh at this. Harry really was a marauder's son. Add in the experience of Severus, Lucius, Narcissa, Minerva, and the other Heads of House and you have quite an effective team when it comes to driving someone crazy.

"Two can play this game," muttered Albus. "Fergus, I demand that you resort Mr. Potter right this instant. I'm tired of the games that are being played here. Once I get to the bottom of this, I know some students AND some professors that are going to be in loads of trouble for this."  
"Resort Meg?" asked the hat in astonishment. "Well if you insist. Let's see Princess Pretty Pony. Yes I know that today is Tuesday. That fool of a Headmaster already made sure we knew that more than once. Yes I know that Professor Quirrell is two faced. Literally you say? Oh yes I love the color mauve."

"WHAT IN THE HELL ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?" yelled Albus. "I want this over with as soon as possible. I'm the Headmaster here and what I say goes. Just sort that brat and get it over with."  
A pin dropping would make more noise than the deafening silence that was now heard in the Great Hall. The great Albus Dumbledore just called the Boy-Who-Lived a brat. Not only that, but he was rude about it. There were looks of pure murder on the faces of many. Even the sly Slytherins were looking at Dumbledore with promises of retribution on their faces.

"Meg!" said Harry after blowing another raspberry. This caused the Great Hall to erupt in noise. Dumbledore sat down with a heavy thud. Not only had he vocalized his aggravation, but he lost the respect of everyone in the castle. Harry was still sitting there with the Sorting Hat on his head. He didn't know what to do about the situation. Finally he decided to have one more go at the boy and the situation.

"Mr. Potter," he called. "You are to return the Sorting Hat to me this instant or face expulsion. Should that happen, you will return to your Aunt's house and your memory will be wiped of our world. Consider this your last and only warning on the situation."

Meg!" called out Harry one more time irritating Albus even further before blowing yet another raspberry. This time Harry was copied by no less than two hundred students. What surprised   
Albus the most was that it was also copied by no less than six professors. Harry stood up and headed over to the staff table. Albus stood up with his wand in his hand.  
"Let me get one thing clear to you Barney," Harry stated with all seriousness in his face. "YOU CAN NOT EXPEL ME! I am the heir of two founders here. Therefore, you can utter the words all you wish, but it isn't going to happen. If you even think about erasing my memories, the REAL guardians of me will make sure that you spend the rest of your life in prison. As Petunia isn't my guardian and she is in jail, it will be hard to send me back to her home."

With that, Harry reached over the table and plucked the wand out of Dumbledore's hand. Before the old wizard could react, Harry lifted off the floor in a golden glow thus telling everyone that the true owner of the wand was holding his possession. When he settled back down, he turned on his heel and headed back towards his friends waiting for him at the Ravenclaw table. The students were interested in examining the wand that Albus held since 1941.  
"Well now," said Severus. "I believe that it's time for you, Quirrell, and the four Heads of House to all convene in your office with Mr. Weasley. We have words for both of you and it will be better that the students not see us tear you apart. You are, after all, still the Headmaster for the moment. NOW MARCH."

Quirrell went to protest, but at the stern glares of most of the staff, he quietly stood up and went with Albus and the four heads to the Headmaster's office. Once inside, Ronald started to bellyache about his treatment only to be silenced by Minerva.

"First and foremost, Mr. Weasley, you are in so much trouble that you will never be able to get out of it," she hissed like a cat. "You are rude, crude, and gluttonous. I hereby wash my hands of you. You will not be allowed to return to my class until next year. I have had it with your ignorance and rudeness."

"This is quite an accomplishment as you haven't been here a month yet," stated Severus with a snort. "You are also hereby banned from my class until next year. I will not have someone like you not being mature enough to handle the class. I do hope that you are happy with yourself."

"You won't be allowed in my class either," added Pomona. "I have watched you for the last two classes and you have no clue as to how to work with your classmates, nor do you know the subject material. I will not allow other students to do your work. This is three of the core subjects that you aren't allowed in."  
"Make that four," corrected Filius softly. "I don't want him in my class for the rest of this year either. I don't like him belittling my other students when they are ten times more advanced than he is. This will leave you with History of Magic, Astronomy, and DADA. When you are not in either of those classes, you will return to your dorm room and stay in it. You are only allowed out of your room to use the library, eat at meals, and meetings. Other than that, you are to stay in your room. Of course you may come out for your detentions which we are holding still."

"You have no right to do that to my students," insisted Albus. "Fergus, I insist that you place Mr. Weasley in his correct house. I don't understand what is going on with certain students, but once I figure out what it is, all those responsible for it will be in lots of trouble. This will also include some professors as they are encouraging the students to be disruptive and rude to me."

"Please be silent," stated Fergus. "You are in lots of trouble yourself for your law-breaking ways. You are just lucky that Madam Bones hasn't arrested you yet, Meg. She did tell you that she would be coming for you soon so that you could answer lots of questions about your so called guardianship of Lord Potter. You have no right to do what you are doing to that young man. As for Mr. Weasley, I will consider placing him if you let me place him where he belongs. You fight me on it, I will reject him again."

"What house does he belong in?" asked a tired Albus. "The sooner the better is what the saying amongst muggles is these days. When we get that done, we can discuss why you all are being nasty to Quirinus. What has he done to the lot of you that you are so hard on him?"  
"He has been scanning Mr. Potter's mind when in class," hissed Minerva. "We already know that he is after the…"  
"Minerva," interrupted Severus. "Weasley is still here. He doesn't need to know. We will handle Quirrell when we are done with him. For now, let's let Fergus tell us where Weasley belongs. Once he is in his dorm, we can discuss what is going on with Quirrell."

"He will stay in Slytherin," stated Fergus. "If he goes to Gryffindor, Miss Granger will be in danger. Add with that he has no bravery what so ever and you have that house out of the running for him. He has no intelligence in any way, shape, or form, so Ravenclaw is out. He would only want to go there to bother Lord Potter. He is rude and crude, so Hufflepuff is out. HE has no loyalty to anyone other than himself and gold. Placing him there would only serve to annoy Heir Longbottom. Slytherin is the best house to contain him and teach him some manners. I suggest that the staff look away when his dorm mates are teaching him that lesson."

"You can't possibly condone the children hexing Mr. Weasley," interrupted Dumbledore. "I won't allow this to happen. We will give Mr. Weasley his own rooms for his safety. If he needs lessons in decorum, we will teach him as professors and not allow the children to teach him anything.

"NO!" thundered Severus. "This boy will NOT get special privileges in this castle just because he is a lazy moron. He will spend time in his dorm with the rest of his peers. If they decide to teach him a lesson when we aren't watching, then so be it. He has already lost lots of points and we are barely finished with the first week of school. Each day, one of the professors takes points from him. You know it's bad if Binns takes points from a student."

"I have no idea it was THAT bad," stated an astonished Pomona. "Binns doesn't even call the students by their correct names much less acknowledge that they are in the class. To take points must have had something major going on. What happened to cause Binns to take points?"  
"He tried to hit Harry," stated Filius simply. "The fool child tried to attack Harry because he wouldn't be his friend to give him money and fame. Binns was so shocked that he almost moved on to the next plain of existence."

"Like that would be such a bad thing," muttered Ron. "Potter should just do what he is told. Dumbledore said Harry HAS to be my friend. Yet the ponce won't do what his betters are telling him. I should just pull the pureblood action and MAKE him be my friend. As he is only a half blood, I can make him do what I want as a pureblood."

"You really are a stupid boy aren't you?" asked Quirrell with no stutter. "Didn't you hear that Potter is heir of two founders? This means that you can pull all of the pureblood crap that you want and you still aren't close enough to wipe the mud off his shoes in rank and prestige. My god, I don't want you in my class anymore either. If this is your way of thinking, then I should just kill you now and be done with it."

"That is coming from the Dark Lord," said Severus with a sneer. "He wants you dead just for being alive. This has to be a record of some sort. We have a first year that is banned from all five of the core subjects. Even the Dark Lord doesn't want to teach him. I say we write this entire scenario out, and place it in the trophy room. We have a student that is more hated than the most evil Dark Wizard in history."  
"What do you mean the Dark Lord is here?" asked Albus with something akin to fright on his face?"


	6. A Tale of Woe

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  ** _Author's Note:_** _This chapter was originally written by StormyFireDragon._

That single question left everyone and anyone looking at Albus with a mix of shock and irritation on their faces. No one present could believe that Albus was so determined to look the other way and not be honest about anything.  
"Are you really that stupid?" asked Minerva. "Weasley! Get yourself to your dorm and do NOT come out for any reason. Should I find that you have left your dorm room, I will expel you on the spot. Now move! This is your last warning. You had better buck up your ideas young man. As you only have to attend two classes, you had better get an outstanding in both from here on out or you will be sent home."

"We have other students to attend," stated Severus. "We will discuss Quirrell and his two faces another time. Just know that we are ALL watching out over you. We WILL deal with this at a later date. We just can't keep ignoring our students. I have to make sure that, that nitwit doesn't get himself half way killed before the end of the night. Oh, and by the way Voldemort, don't even try and attempt to get to the stone. You will find that it is well beyond your ability to obtain."

With that, the professors stalked out of the room. They knew it was dangerous to leave Quirrell anywhere in the castle, but as long as he was there, so was the Dark Lord and they could keep an eye on him so long as the rest of the Horcruxes were out and about. They still had to get to the one in Grimmauld Place. Sirius should be out of jail soon and able to go and get it.  
It wasn't long before Halloween was upon them. Severus and the other Heads were worried that Quirrell would pull his stunt again with the troll. They warned Harry and the others about what would happen and what they could do to help thwart the plan.

"Make sure that no matter what is said that all of you are in the Great Hall for the feast," stated Filius. "We don't want any of you separated or out and about while that beast is in the castle. We will deal with it as we know spells and such that can get rid of it in an easy manner. I'll have Hagrid sit at the end of Ravenclaw table with you all so that we can protect you better. It's nearest the doors. We Heads of House will sit with the students tonight so that we can protect you should the troll change direction and head towards the Great Hall."

"No doubt when it doesn't encounter anyone in the dungeons, it will head towards the noise it will hear from the Great Hall," explained Filius. "We don't want any student hurt and Hagrid will make a great first line of defense against it. He is famous for wrestling with them. He thinks it's funny while we worry recklessly. That man needs to get his priorities straight. We are already working on getting him a new wand."

"Don't forget to make Dumbledore nuts," reminded Minerva with a smile. "We are already countering all of the points you are losing from him. Once he is outside of the castle, we can keep him out for good. Now that he has lost that wand, he isn't as powerful as he once was. I believe that we only have Nagini, Slytherin's locket, and the portion of Voldie himself to worry about. The goblins have taken care of Hufflepuff's cup. We sent the Diadem to them. Your scar is clean. Lucius sent the diary to the goblins. You should be receiving the Ring from the Gaunts any day now. Amelia said they got it and the goblins were dealing with it. Therefore, we are almost done eliminating him."

"Did you all recover the stone yet?" asked Harry with a grin. "You said you would and we were wondering if there will be any more surprises for us once Mr. Flamel and his wife learn of Dumbledore's idiocy and deceit. I would be awesome if Mr. Flamel strangles Dumbledore in the Great Hall. It would be even better if he used Dumbledore's own beard as the strangle weapon."

"You can bet that Nick and Penny are furious with the old fool," stated Pomona with a laugh. "You can bet they will have words for him when they finally get here. We did get the stone. We also added more protections to the traps and such. We finally got your cloak back to you. We just have to wait and be patient. We need to find Nagini and make sure she is killed if she has a horcrux in her. This will all be over before you know it. I am proud of all six of you. Not only are you six the top in the school, but you are bringing all four houses together to work and study. The GPA in the school is at the highest it has ever been in a very long time."

"This is due to your hard work," added Minerva. "Thanks to you six not being prejudice, the houses are helping one another with their school work and such. We couldn't be happier that we came back to help fix all of the problems that are involved. We want you six to know how very proud of you we are and that we want you to continue to work hard and do well. Now off you go. Classes are about to resume and the feast is at six."

Laughing, the preteens split up and headed to their classes for the morning. Each was eager to learn what was being taught. Their eagerness was infectious as other students wanted to learn with them. They were even learning things from Quirrell and Binns and that was saying something.

Finally the feast was upon them. Thankfully the kids had listened and they were all together in the Great Hall. Ronald Weasley was absent, but that was due to him running his mouth and ending up in the Infirmary for Poppy to try and undo some of the spells that were on him. The professors didn't bother to take points anymore. They just added time to his detentions. The fool child would never learn due to not wanting to keep his mouth closed and his ears open.  
Right on cue, the doors to the Great Hall burst open and Quirrell ran inside screaming about the troll. From there, he fell face first onto the floor in a dead faint. As only the Sterling Six knew about it, the other students started to panic.

"SILENCE!" yelled Dumbledore. "Please do not panic."  
"MEG!" sounded four hundred voices followed by a raspberry. Oddly enough all of the professors joined in on this one.  
"I swear that if I hear that once more that I will cause each person who says it to lose ten points from their houses," hissed Albus in anger. "This is totally disrespectful and I swear it needs to stop. I am not going to repeat myself on this."

"Meg dear," stated Minerva in a sweet voice to a third year girl. "Would you please pass the salt? I need a little more for my potatoes. Would you also pass the raspberries?"  
"Ten points from Gryffindor," stated Albus without really thinking about it. "Now as I was saying. Prefects please lead your houses to your common rooms. Professors meet me outside so that we can find the troll."

"You do realize that you just took points from a professor?" asked an amused Chastity Burbage. "Minerva hasn't been your student in a very long time. I suggest that you stop playing around and deal with the troll please. Ten points to Gryffindor for his mistake. Five points to each house for having to listen to this nonsense."

"My apologies Minerva," said Dumbledore when he realized what he had done. "The students still need to get to their common rooms so that we may deal with the troll. Prefects, I insist that you gather your houses and head out now."

"No such luck Barney," stated Harry as he was poking Quirrell with his finger watching puffs of smoke come up where he touched bare flesh. "First off, the Slytherin and Hufflepuff Houses are in the dungeons if you care to remember. They would have to cross paths with the troll to get to their houses. Second off, Professor Quirrell seems to be not only faking being unconscious, but he seems about to internally combust or something. He seems to be catching fire every time I poke him."

"Princess Pretty Pony, please stop poking him before your clothes catches on fire," murmured Hermione. "Plus you seem to be enjoying watching him burn. That isn't very fair to our supporting actor. He does look exactly like Ian Hart. Now please leave the poor faking man alone. We need you to help us with a Red Rover game. Besides, if you burn him up then we will have to have an inept teacher for Defense. At least the Dork Lord is teaching us how to defend ourselves against him."  
"But you have to go to your common rooms," stuttered Albus. "Why won't you do what I tell you to do? I will start deducting points if you don't listen to me. I am still the Headmaster around here and what I say goes."

"Let's make a deal Wink," stated Harry jumping up. "How about we house the two houses that are living in the dungeons? Personally I think it's barbaric to have people living in the dungeons. It makes me think they did something wrong and they are being punished full time. There are four towers in this castle. I don't see why we don't have the exact same kind of common room for all four houses. This will keep students from thinking that others have better things."  
"I'd like to buy a vowel," chimed in Luna. "I would like to purchase the batman symbol please. From there I would like to solve the puzzle."  
"VANNA!" yelled Hermione. "Would you please turn the letters and give Moon Beam her vowel. I would hate to fire you for not doing your job."

"Sorry Pat," yelled back Susan. "If you would have told me we were working today I would have had the letters ready. It isn't my fault that Meg didn't tell us that Jill was dead."  
"She's dead AGAIN?" asked a crying Hermione. "Why didn't anyone tell us that SpongeBob killed her again? She was my bestest friend."  
"Not this again," hissed Dumbledore rubbing his aching temples. "You can NOT kill a person more than once. If Jill was already dead, then how is she dead again? You kids are seriously disturbed in the brain."

"Listen here Chick," whispered Harry in a gangster voice. "By that logic, then Voldieparts is still dead. You seem to think that he is not. HOWEVER, Professor Ian Hart is still internally combusting. There is still a troll in the castle. There is also no possible way we are allowing Slytherin and Hufflepuff Houses to go down to the dungeons."

"Why not just let us stay here and let the professors take care of us?" asked Hermione still making her eyes cry. "Jill is dead and we don't want our friends that live in the dungeons for being bad to die too. Why can't you see reason Meg? We love them and we don't want them to die. Professor Two Face is still puffing smoke when Princess Pretty Pony pokes him. Why is he still faking? Is he going for an Oscar?"

"Quirinus do get off the floor," snapped Minerva. "It's unprofessional of you to be lying there when we all know you are awake and watching us. I know for a fact that you let the troll in. You can go with Dumbledore and get rid of it right now. If I have to tell you again, I will make both of you sorry that you were ever born. Now get up and move. Oh and before I forget, I will be going through both of your offices to look for items that belong to the students. I happen to know that Dumbledore still has some things that belong to Lord Potter."

Albus and an angry Quirrell got up from where they were seated or laying and went to get rid of the troll. Harry and the rest were awarded points for their quick thinking that kept two of the four houses from going down to the very location of the troll. The two of them came back in a little later with news that the troll was gone and that the students were allowed to head back to their dorms.

"STOP!" called out Severus. "Each house is to line up quietly in a straight line. Your Head of House will lead you to your dorms. Prefects are to roam amongst the line and make sure you have no stragglers. We are NOT going to believe Dumbledore or Two Face when they say they got rid of the troll. The two of them look like they have been off gallivanting and not doing what we told them too. This will be a learning experience if any house sees the troll as we Heads know how to deal with it."

"We will ask the other professors to equally split off and join us in escorting the students please," squeaked Filius. "We want our students safe from harm and a few more professors with each house will go a long way to ensuring that we have no stragglers or students getting harmed. When we are sure that the students are safe, we will do another sweep of the castle to make sure that nothing extra got in and so forth."

With that being said, students, professors, heads, and prefects got together with their correct house and started to head to their common rooms. Neither Quirrell nor Dumbledore were invited to help as they were the ones that were causing the most problems. The Heads wanted to make sure that each student was cared for and protected. The other professors of the school agreed that it was time for the students to get along and be safe. Just like the four Heads, they were tired of the bullying, bigotry, and other stupidity that always happened. This year was looking great even if Dumbledore and Quirrell were the source of pranks, ire, and many harsh words.

"Before you all head out, I would like to know who broke into my office," said Dumbledore. "I know it is some kind of prank as my lemon drops were tampered with and my nightclothes gave me a rash. I would like to know who did what to my belongings."  
"Well," said an amused Draco. "If you wouldn't upset the house elves so much, they would wash your laundry more for you. Last I heard from Dingo was that the elves won't help you as you are constantly attempting to do harm to their owner. As for your lemon drops, they already have potions in them. Maybe you got the potion mixed up and put the wrong one in."

"That would be a possibility except that the taste isn't off," offered Dumbledore before he really thought about what he was saying. "The problem of the matter is that when I go to grab one to eat, they bite me. If I catch whoever is breaking into my office, that person will be suspended."  
It wasn't long before the Christmas holidays were upon them. Harry had been invited to spend the holidays with the Longbottom, Bones, Malfoy, Granger, and Lovegood families. Lucius made it easier for everyone by stating that everyone was welcome at their manor so that they could see all of the kids.

"Never let it be said that we don't enjoy the holidays," stated Narcissa watching as Dumbledore turned red with anger. "I can't tell you how nice it will be to have more than just me as the mother of the season. With six preteens, we will have our hands full. We can make sure that Emma and Dan have a way to get to our house. Things will be great."  
Dumbledore decided that now was a ripe time to get a word in with Harry.  
"Harry Potter," whispered Dumbledore. "I want a word with you and you will not call attention to us or I will have no choice but to punish you. I have a nice whip in my office with your name on it."

Harry looked at Dumbledore with malice in his eyes and enough mischievousness to make the old man pale. Dumbledore had apparently forgotten who Harry's parents and Godparents were. Harry looked around for a moment before making up his mind.

"I NEED AN ADULT!" he bellowed as loud as he could. "PERVERT ALERT! PERVERT ALERT! MEG SAYS SHE HAS A WHIP WITH MY NAME ON IT IN HIS OFFICE AND SHE WANTS TO DO STUFF TO ME IN PRIVATE. PERVERT ALERT. I AM ONLY 11. I WILL BE PRESSING CHARGES THIS TIME. I NEED AN ADULT! I NEED ACID FOR MY BRAIN. EEWW I JUST PICTURED MEG NAKED. EEEEWWW."

No less than eight adult wands were trained on Dumbledore. During this, no less than one hundred students started screaming while pretending to claw their eyes out. Hermione and Draco were there when they saw Harry plan his prank on the old fool. They knew that Harry was a quick thinker when in a tight spot. They knew he would pay the old fool back, they just didn't know how. When Harry let loose, they backed his claim by stating they heard lewd suggestions coming from the Headmaster about what he wanted to do to Harry.

"He wants to take away Princess Pretty Pony's clothes," wailed Hermione causing many of the students to rush out of the Great Hall and surround the Sterling Sextet to protect them. Many of the older students had their wands out and were ready to tear the old fool apart. It wasn't long before a ring of students was present. Older students were on the outside while all of the first years were in the center of the circle. The Sterling Six were in the immediate circle and Harry was protected by everyone.

"He is NASTY!" added Draco throwing his words into the melee to cause more trouble. "How can he even think that Princess Pretty Pony would want to be alone with him? That old cross-dresser is wrinkled for Merlin's sake. That is so nasty. EEWWWW!"  
Severus and Minerva were the first to cast spells at Dumbledore pinning the old fool to the wall. While they knew that Dumbledore wasn't trying to do anything sexual to Harry, they did know that he breeched the agreement and was trying to get Harry away from his group.

"I don't know how many times we have to tell you to leave that boy alone," hissed Minerva in fury. "He is going home with the Malfoys today so that you can't get your hooks into him again. I don't know what you had in mind, but you won't even get the chance to try. That will be twenty points to Ravenclaw for your quick thinking Harry. This is what you do when an adult tries to do something that they shouldn't."

"Unfortunately, I am going to have to remove five points each from Draco and Hermione," said Severus softly. "That was uncalled for. We know he said something to Harry, but that went too far. Please be careful with your words as they could get you into trouble."  
"Yes Uncle Severus," chorused Draco and Hermione.

"He will NOT be going with the Malfoy's," returned Dumbledore. "He HAS to stay here or he can go home to the Dursleys. Either way, he will be staying away from Malfoy Manor as I have no idea where it is to keep an eye on him."

"You have no say in the matter," stated Amelia looking Dumbledore squarely in the eye. Meanwhile, Harry opened his bag and pulled out some Q-tips for Albus. "You are NOT his magical guardian. I suggest you use what Lord Potter just gave you. Forgive me Harry, but this time your title warrants me to call on it. The Dursleys are in prison for a long time. This was already told to you. The four Heads of House have the final say on Harry's well-being. You are going to leave Lord Potter alone or I will file a petition with the Wizengamot and have you arrested for stalking the Lord of an Ancient and Noble House. Severus and the others stated that Harry is going with the Malfoys for the holidays. That will happen or you can share a cell with a Dementor."

"Aunt Amelia, Molly Weasley is coming up the walk and she doesn't look happy," called out Hermione. "I think she is mad because Ronald is still getting into trouble for trying to cause problems for everyone. She has already sent more than a dozen howlers to the professors complaining about them punishing him all the time."  
"Not to worry Hermione," called back Amelia. "She can't do anything because it's the truth of the matter. You let us deal with her and we will make sure that none of you are going to get accosted by her either. I would recommend that you lot go together to one of the common rooms and stay safe somewhere."

"Go to Ravenclaw," suggested Filius. "The six of you will be safest with the Ravens as Ronald is in the Slytherin common room. Ravenclaw is harder to get into than either Hufflepuff or Gryffindor. Harry and Luna, tell the other Ravens that I am asking them to help keep an eye on you all until this mess here is sorted out for the day."  
"Is that Harry Potter going away?" asked Molly Weasley in a huff. "I wanted a word with the little bastard about getting my son into trouble. How dare he run his mouth and make my son look bad?"

"Harry has never once complained to, or talked to, Ronald Weasley," snapped Severus. "Your son lied to you. Harry is not the cause of him going into Slytherin House. You have our dear Headmaster to thank for that. Were it OUR decision, your son wouldn't be in this school at all. My suggestion to you would be to back up, not talk about my ward like that, and get the hell out of this school. YOU DON'T BELONG HERE! I DARE you to call him another name."

"But Ronald belongs in Gryffindor with Harry," insisted Molly. "They are supposed to be best friends. How can that happen when Ronald is in Slytherin? I demand a resort for my son."  
"He already had one," snapped Minerva. "For the record Molly, Harry is not a lion. Harry is an eagle. He will not now, nor will he ever be, your son's friend. Ronald is rude, crude, and gluttonous. However, you would know all about that as you and Albus was stealing Harry's money. I will back what Severus said. If I ever hear you say something like that about MY ward again, I will transfigure you into a toad and let one of the students' familiars eat you. I happen to know that Harry and Draco have owls."

"I will be pressing charges against you Minerva McGonagall," hissed Molly. "I want restitution for that remark and I want it now. You will either put Harry and Ronald in Gryffindor, or I will sue Hogwarts. That little bastard owes me that money and I want it back. He had no right to cut us off of that."  
"How do you figure that he owed you that money?" asked Pomona puffing up in fury. "He has never met you. How do you get that he owes you that money? Has some of Miss Lovegood's Nargles infested your mind or something? Maybe you have Wrackspurts. Maybe a Crumple Horned Snorkack has crawled into your ass. Harry Potter doesn't owe you a damned thing in this world."

"He has a betrothal contract with my daughter," stated Molly smugly. "We were to get money for her hand in marriage. Therefore, I demand that the money get returned to my family."  
"The marriage contract you had isn't legal and you are lucky that you aren't in jail for even possessing a copy of it," snapped Amelia. "I was there when Harry saw the goblin healers and had his finances looked at. Albus Dumbledore is NOT Harry's magical guardian. Though he is in jail, Sirius is still Harry's guardian. Severus, Minerva, Filius, and Pomona are his temporary guardians. Narcissa Malfoy is his godmother and therefore while Sirius is in jail, she can call the shots as Harry's LEGAL guardian."

"This means that Albus can sign all of the contracts he wants, but it isn't legal," said Severus. "As long as Narcissa or Sirius' names aren't on that document, then there is nothing that can be done. For the record you Wailing Banshee, Arthur's name isn't on the document either and that makes you BREAKING THE LAW!"  
"Let's also keep in mind that is the parents of the BRIDE that has to pay the dowry and NOT the groom," added Filius. "You people have some serious and twisted thoughts going through your brains. If you don't desist in your actions, then I will have no choice but to file my own legal complaints against YOU. Harry is a Ravenclaw. Sirius will be out of jail soon anyway. Amelia told us they moved him to a Ministry cell until his trial can happen."

"Unless you would like to be arrested, I suggest that you leave the school and not return," instructed Minerva. "The next time I see you, I press charges for trespassing. As it is, your son is going to have to repeat his first year as he isn't taking a single core class as none of the professors want him in their class. We only allowed him to stay as a favor to your family and its history. Don't make us recall that favor."

"This isn't over with," threatened Molly before spinning on her heal to leave. "I will have my day and that little half-breed will get what's coming to him. He will marry my Ginny or he will lose what he owns."

"Kingsley, as Madam Weasley can't seem to shut her mouth, please arrest her and bring her to a Ministry holding cell," asked Amelia politely with heavy sarcasm. "That is the second time in less than ten minutes that she has threatened and besmirched the Lord of three Ancient and Noble houses. Two of those houses are the houses of Gryffindor and Slytherin. We won't add the Peverell or Black lines as they are not as prominent at this moment."

Bowing his head in agreement, Kingsley grabbed Molly and arrested her. Albus wasn't looking to good either as, he was also in cuffs and was being taken from the castle for questioning. All in all, the plan he had to place Harry in his control was fading fast. Even with the Dark Lord in the castle, the staff was less worried about him and more worried about the Headmaster.

Days later, Albus was back at his spot in the Great Hall. This didn't do him any favors as he was watching in anger as Harry was standing with Draco with his trunk while talking to members of their party of friends. He couldn't get control of the situation no matter how hard he tried. In the end, he just decided that it would be better if he just sat and waited.  
Christmas arrived and the six kids were delighted. Malfoy Manor was brilliant in the way that the elves decorated it. The splendor of the Manor delighted Harry. He had never been in a house to big or beautiful before.

"You should get used to it," stated Draco. "From what we know, your Manor is larger than this one and will house all of your family for at least three generations if you have children. The entire Weasley family could fit into your family home comfortably and you know how large their family is. That should give you some idea of how big your house is."  
"What about my property in Godric's Hollow?" asked Harry of Lucius. "Whatever became of it? Wasn't that the house we were in when the Dark Lord attacked us?"

"It's still there," assured Lucius. "From what I have been told by Severus and others, they went and fixed it back up. It's there for you to visit. We were thinking about taking you tomorrow to visit their graves and the house if you wanted to go. Severus and Minerva will be visiting for a couple of hours tomorrow. They would be here more, but they have to help oversee the remaining students. Thankfully there aren't many that remained at Hogwarts this year. Filius told us there are only five students that didn't go home this year."

"One of them is an orphan," said Hermione sadly. "Her family was killed when she was young. She doesn't have a family to go home to. She is staying at an Orphanage. She deals with the muggle children all the time. Her name is Gwendolyn Richards. She is alone. Harry and I bought her something for Christmas. Luna, Neville, and Susan chipped in and got her a necklace with some safety charms on it. Draco bought her some books."

"Yeah," agreed Harry. "She is the only orphan at school right now. I have been talking with her and she seems like a nice person. She is smart too. I like how she looks at things. It makes for a good time talking with her when she is on a subject she is passionate about."

"We may have to look into doing something for her then," mused Lucius to Narcissa. "If she is alone and a magical child, there is something that we might be able to do for her. It isn't like we don't have the room or funds to care for another child. You always stated that you wanted a daughter. We could look into becoming her guardians or something."  
"We can deal with it after the holidays," agreed Narcissa. "This situation has potential and I will have to use my contacts to see what we can learn about her before we come to a decision about it one way or another."

The remainder of the holidays was festive. The kids enjoyed their time playing games, drinking cocoa, attending the parties that were thrown by some of the higher ranked witches and wizards in the Ministry. They even got to meet the Queen and her family. That this was Harry's first real family oriented Christmas wasn't missed on anyone. They all got lots of nice presents from everyone. Harry enjoyed watching the faces of everyone when they opened his presents and such.

Upon returning to the castle, Harry and company knew that things would have to carry on like they usually were. They wanted to teach Dumbledore a lesson about things, but they knew that they had to proceed with caution before they made a mistake that could get them into trouble with either Dumbledore or Voldemort. As of yet, they hadn't really messed with Voldemort. He was still an unknown situation as they didn't know how powerful he still was while residing in another's body.


	7. Messing with the Dark Lord

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Author's Note:** _This was the final chapter originally written by StormyFireDragon._

Once the teens were back in the castle, things pretty much settled down for them so that they could fall into a routine. They were getting extra sessions with the professors so that they could advance faster. The four Heads let the kids go at their own pace so that they didn't get overburdened. While they may have come from the future, the kids didn't. It was during the evening when they were having their Occlumency lesson that Harry was slightly troubled. He knew what he wanted to say, he just didn't know how to make his point come across maturely.

"There seems to be something on your mind this evening Harry," commented Severus after breaking through his shields for the fourth time. "Would you like to talk about it in private? You won't be able to get your lesson done today unless you can concentrate, and you seem to be all over the place. What's going on that you are worried about? I can tell, as you have the same expression on your face that your mother used to get. Truth be told, as much as I didn't like James Potter, he used to get an almost identical look. He looked like that when he was worried about Lily."

"I'm a little bit worried about Hermione," admitted Harry. "Draco, Susan, Neville, and Luna are all purebloods, and I am a child of two of the founders. Hermione doesn't have that kind of pull or protection. Ronald Weasley was talking about pulling something called Pure Blood rank on her or something like that. I don't want her getting hurt because she is muggleborn. Is there something that we can do to help her? From what you have all been saying in our social lessons, I have nothing to worry about as about only the Queen herself can call me down socially."

"There is something that you can do actually," stated Severus after a moment or two of thought. "We would have to get permission from her parents, but you, or even Neville, can place Hermione under what we call a House Protection. This would mean that Hermione and her family would come under the banner of either you or Neville. She would be protected, as would her family, from people like Ronald Weasley trying to pull rank on her by calling on the Pure Blood Rite. She would be safe from even people like Draco's father as the Longbottoms and the Potters are some of the oldest English families around. While Draco and his family are very high up in the ranks, you and Neville outrank them due to being English while the Malfoys are French. Luna can't do it as she is a female and her family is Patriarchal. That's not to say that Xeno wouldn't do it, but your family and that of Neville is older and more powerful."

"Is there any way that you can talk to Uncle Dan and Aunt Emma for me?" asked Harry cautiously not wanting to overburden the man with his fears. Since the first day in Diagon Alley, Harry had come to love all four Heads of House and the Malfoy, Lovegood, Granger, Bones, and Longbottom adults. Minerva was delighted to see that Severus cared for Harry as much, if not more, than anyone else. "I know you are busy with classes, but something tells me that Hermione is in danger. I can't explain how I know or feel this, but I think the sooner we do this, the better it would be for her and her family. It's sort of like when Luna goes into her trances and such. Either Ronald, or Dumbledore will try and hurt her due to being a muggleborn. Do you think that I inherited some sort of Seer ability?"

"It's quite possible that you have," answered Severus quickly thinking on the question. "All four founders did have some form of divinatory ability in their blood. All four were Seers of some sort. You must have picked up some of it being related to two of the four. As for talking with the Grangers, leave that to me or Minerva. We can have it done in a matter of days or hours. This is something that I will trust your instinct on as in the past life, your instincts never let you down. If you say she is in danger, then I will trust that explicitly. Now, why don't you head to your dorm and get some rest. We can resume your lesson another night. For the record, I am proud of you with your scores in potions. You are tied with Draco and Hermione for the highest scores in your year. Even Neville is doing better. From what I am to understand, you are top in your year followed very closely by the others in your group."

"Actually, I am going to go to the library after my next class, Uncle Sev," answered Harry with a blush on his face at the praise. "We are meeting up with Uncle Filius to go over some advanced Charms. He claims that we are going to eventually get bored with the first year curriculum and he wants us to start working on second year work. This way we have an advantage over it."  
"Before you go, how are you doing in Voldemort's classes?" asked Severus. "I notice you look pale sometimes when you leave the classroom. Has he been trying to get into your head again?"

"Oh he has been trying," admitted Harry obtaining a smirk of self-satisfaction. "Have you not observed him when I leave class? He is either grinding his teeth in frustration, or he is taking a potion to stop his headache. Thanks to your classes, I let him into my head just enough to cause him problems. I would think that purple and pink unicorns with care bears is enough to give any sane or insane Dark Lord a headache. If I don't do that, I play an image of two ugly fat kids that look like him playing patty cake. Though he is getting more insistent in his probes. Hermione had to cause a distraction long enough for me to get a grip on my shields the other day. She got a detention, but Aunt Minnie commandeered it. She got five points for her quick thinking."

"We will have to do something about this," murmured Severus. "One of us might have to sit in on the lessons when you are there and make sure that he doesn't do it anymore. I might even be able to convince the old fool to cover for us and make sure he stops. While he might be deranged and want to harm you for his own purposes, he is still against Voldemort and his shenanigans. We will have to make sure we play this right so that the two of them will be against one another. When is your next Defense class?"

"In about five minutes," answered Harry looking at his watch. "Aren't you free this lesson? You could always come in under my cloak or something. That way you can watch. Luna and I discovered that you can cast low powered spells through the cloak from the inside without causing damage to it. Low powered spells also have no effect on the person wearing it either. This will help if you notice him trying to enter."  
"Good idea," returned Severus. "Five points to Ravenclaw for that sheer brilliance. I take it you have your cloak on you? Let's go. I can cover with it while we walk. I know that since Minerva gave you the cloak, that you never go anywhere without it."

"I do that for two reasons," admitted Harry as he pulled it out of his bag and proceeded to follow Severus down the corridor. "One is that it belonged to my dad. I feel closer to him for having it with me. The second is that I can quickly escape when I notice one or the other of the dimwits coming near me. If you add Ronald Weasley to the bunch, I wear it more than I do my own clothes most of the time. It's like the three stooges when they get together to try and plan something. None of them realize that one of us is under my cloak listening to what they are planning. Draco has all of Slytherin House causing mayhem with the sneaky brilliance that they have. Luna confuses most people in general, so it isn't hard for her to confuse the three of them. Hermione has all of the Gryffindors doing odd things. Let's not forget the Weasley twins have been relentlessly pranking the three of them. Last but not least, Susan, Neville, and Cedric are all working with the Puffs to show the three that Hufflepuff is NOT a lost cause."

"Last but not least, when the four houses get together and work on a project, they are one thing that even the fabled Marauders were never able to pull off," said Severus with a laugh startling some passing fifth years. "You six are some of the most intelligent youngsters that I have had the pleasure of meeting. When the six of you put your minds together, it is sheer brilliance. Dumbledore is well over a hundred years old and he can't compete with you lot."

"So you let the little boy get away with murder while you mock and defy me," mentioned Dumbledore coming around the corner. "Well I have news for the ten of you. I want you ALL in my office this evening after classes and we will close this stupid nonsense once and for all. Even if I have to fire four professors from this school, I will have complete control of this castle by the end of the day."

"Mr. Potter," admonished Severus. "Why didn't you tell me you committed murder? All this time I have been working with you and walking and such and you are nothing but a murderer? You should have said something. Therefore, I will NOT be talking with the Headmaster about Voldemort using Legilimency on you in your classes. Do I make myself clear Mr. Potter? Should you continue to kill people, I will have no choice but to bring this up to Madam Bones."

"I'm so sorry Professor Snape," returned Harry catching on immediately. "I will try and reign in my murderous nature. I can't make no promises though as the person I keep killing keeps coming back to life. Meg should really do something about this. I can't keep killing an immortal. This just takes up too much of my time from designing a new wardrobe for the Headmaster. I just think that pink glitter would look so much better with all that hair that he has."

Pretending to cry, Harry rushed up to a startled Dumbledore and wrapped his arms around his middle hugging him. All the while he was wailing about how he wanted to stop murdering people and start working on Dumbledore's new clothes. Severus was standing there fighting with all of his might to not laugh. Minerva, who had been listening and watching, had no such qualms. She hurried away to laugh long and hard. Harry really was a devious child when he was given permission to act on his instincts.

"Did you say that the Dark Lord is using mind magic on a child?" asked Dumbledore patting Harry gently on the back. "He can't do that to my students. I will have to do something about this. Come Mr. Potter. We must get you to your next lesson. I will be able to stop him from trying to enter your mind again. I'm sure that Professor Snape has other things to do."

"Thanks Barney," said a happily smiling Harry leading the way chatting about the new robes he wanted to make for him. "The Oscar nominee, Ian Hart, has been doing this for weeks now. Every single time I try and concentrate on my schoolwork, he tries to enter my mind. Did you know that he has been raiding your closet? He was wearing your robes yesterday. I bet it was him that is messing with your lemon drops. Did you know that Nargles can fly?"

By the time they got to DADA, Albus has such a huge headache that he couldn't think straight. With one last promise to send his new robes to him when they met that night in his office, Harry walked to sit between Hermione and Luna. The glint in his eyes was a dead giveaway that he was up to something or had done something already. Harry just pointed over his shoulder. The girls turned to look and saw Dumbledore rubbing his temples trying to get rid of his new headache.

"I told him that I would stop my murder spree and I would be sending a new wardrobe to him made specifically for him by me," whispered Harry as Voldemort entered the room. "Before you get confused, I have one title to give. The Emperor's New Clothes."  
Hermione and Luna had to turn away. The thought of Harry giving the old fool a closet full of invisible clothes that didn't make the person invisible would be sure to get the old man in trouble for running around stark naked in front of minors.

Meanwhile, the class was starting. Dumbledore was sitting there disillusioned while Severus was standing in the back under Harry's invisibility cloak. Quirrell came in and began the lesson. After a while, Harry noticed the pressure in his head. When Draco noticed it, he raised his hand to get the man's attention."

"Excuse me, Professor Ian Hart," called Draco. "Is there a reason you are staring at Princess Pretty Pony so hard? From the looks in your eyes it seems you are trying to cause trouble or have perverted thoughts in your head or something like that. Can you stare at someone else for a little while? You always stare at him and it's quite unfair to the rest of us that would like some staring time ourselves."

"Be silent you buffoon," hissed Quirrell. "My name is NOT Ian Hart and I will take ten points from Slytherin for that. The next time someone calls me that name, I will put you in detention for a week. I will make sure it's the most disgusting thing that I can find. I am also going to take ten points from you for being here to begin with as you don't have DADA at this time."

"OH! OH!" crowed Neville bouncing up and down in his seat. "We can send them to your room so that they can clean up all the garlic in your turban and dust your academy awards. We know you have so many being a famous actor and all."  
"Did you just call Meteor Child a baboon?" asked Luna innocently. "That was a cruel thing to do you know. He is much prettier than a baboon and I won't tolerate you belittling either of them. We don't call you names, so therefore you shouldn't call us names Ian Hart."

What the others were doing in that class, Quirrell, Dumbledore, and even Severus had no clue. Whatever the reason, they were giving the Dark Lord a run for his money by distracting him long enough to let Harry get his shields back under his control. Severus had his wand out and was about to take control when the Dark Lord decided to make the biggest mistake of his life.  
"Detention freak," hissed Quirrell at Luna causing a dead silence in the room. "I have already stated that none of you will be calling me that. For the record you retarded child, I didn't call him a baboon. I said Bufoo…."

That was all he got to say as an angry Harry Potter let loose his accidental magic at the word freak. Both Dumbledore and Severus came into view and raced to the preteen. Albus did it because he knew that the Potters were powerful enough to level the British Isles. Severus did it for love of the child in question. As they ran to him, Quirrell's turban began to twist around him and bind him to the desk. Said desk thus attached to the wall creating a spider's web as the turban grew in length. The hatred in Harry's green eyes told the Dark Lord that this was a powerful adversary if he got his full training.

"For my entire life I have been called a freak," hissed Harry to the surprise of everyone in the room. "For you to call that to someone I care for is a sign that you want me to become your enemy. I will NEVER go to the Dark Side. I will always walk in the light and I will always defend my friends. You had better NEVER let me hear you call anyone I care about a freak again. For revenge for this, I have two words for you Voldiepants. WEASLEY TWINS!"

"For the record, you still don't have cookies," exclaimed Hermione. "The Dark Side always tries to get us to join them with the promise of cookies. Well, Yoda ate all the cookies and you have none left. Therefore, you no longer have bargaining chips,"  
"They have chips?" asked Susan coming up at last. "Why didn't anyone tell us they have chips? I might join the dark side if they share their chips with us. Do they have dip and such to go with it?"

"No," admitted Hermione sadly. "Luke and Hans ate them too. The poor Dork Lord doesn't have anything to bargain with. He will never get us to his side without the proper snacks."  
It was then that both Severus and Albus realized that this wasn't accidental magic by Harry. Harry was in full control of what he was doing. Slowly and steadily, Voldemort was being wrapped up like a bug by a spider. He was being cocooned by his own turban. Albus decided that it was time to try and take control of the situation. He would get some revenge on Potter if it was the last thing he ever did.

"Mr. Potter, that will be fifty points from Ravenclaw and you will serve detention with Professor Quirrell for your attack on his person," stated Dumbledore. "I insist that you release him this moment, or I will be forced to suspend you. The choice is completely up to you."

"I am countering all of that," hissed Severus. "Voldemort started all of this by using Legilimency on Harry. Did you not notice that, or were you too busy scheming to realize that a professor was attacking a student right in front of your face. To use that branch of magic on a minor without the permission of a parent or guardian is illegal. You already know this as you are guilty of it yourself. Also, are you too blind to see that the face of the Dark Lord is on the back of his head? Are you really that retarded? Now get out of the way so that I can calm Harry down. What is happening to that idiot is his own fault and he can counter it himself."

"Harry, you need to calm down," whispered Luna while Draco held the younger boy. "I appreciate you standing up for me, but we don't want you to get hurt using all of this wild magic. You could drain your core with this."

"Listen to her little brother," whispered Draco. "She is absolutely right. You are going to hurt yourself with all the magic you are using. Just calm down and let Uncle Severus deal with it. He and Dumbledore are here and they can deal with the situation. Please let the magic go."  
With a small sigh and a sob, Harry let himself slump into Draco's arms. The other students were busy either helping try to calm Harry down, or they were helping to keep the Dark Lord away from them. Others were busy trying to distract Dumbledore from Harry. All four houses had a certain respect for him as he helped everyone and anyone who asked for it. He helped all houses get points and good grades. Severus reached Harry and wrapped his arms around all three kids to help add warmth and respect. Finally Harry calmed down so that he could function and speak properly.

"I'm sorry that I did that to a professor," he whispered to Severus. "He just made me so mad when he called Luna a freak that I just lost it. I hate that word more than any other. Luna is too special to be called a freak and I won't allow ANYONE to hurt her. How much trouble will I be in for this?"

"We are not going to call you down for this," stated Severus. "Your actions were noble. You were in danger with the amount of magic you used, but what you did was VERY noble and worthy of both Slytherin AND Gryffindor. I am going to award you with ten points for defending another student. I am going to award you another ten points for the focus used with the magic. HOWEVER, I am going to deduct five points for holding on to it for that long, thus putting your health in danger. Now, I want Draco and Luna to take Harry to Poppy for a Pepper up Potion. From there, go to your dorm and get some rest. I will have an elf bring you some dinner to your room."

The three kids left to do as was asked. Severus turned to the door and sent out three patroni to the other Heads of House. He sent a fourth one to Amelia asking her to come to the castle. When he was done with that, he turned to the other students and dismissed them from the room. He gave house points to the other two houses that were in the class just for the purpose of assisting Harry. By the time the kids all left, the other Heads and Amelia were already entering the room with curious looks on their faces. They took one look at the guilty expression on the face of Albus and partially understood what was going on. When they saw Quirrell without his turban, they fully understood that something big had happened here.

"I decided to have Albus sit with the students in this lesson as Harry was complaining that Quirrell was using mind magic on him," explained Severus. "I had a free period and decided that I didn't trust Dumbledore to not assist Voldemort and used Harry's cloak to come in. As I sat here, I watched as Draco distracted the professor while Harry struggled to get his shields back up. From there, the professor used verbal attacks on Luna. He called her a freak and Harry let loose. You all know how he feels about that word and it being used on anyone he cares about. Dumbledore tried to blame Harry for all of this. He took lots of points and gave detention."

"In other words, he was trying to take control of Harry by giving him options," stated Minerva glaring at the old man. "How many times do we have to tell you that the Potter Lord is off limits to you? You were supposed to be here to observe one of YOUR professors using a branch of magic illegally on a minor. I have never given permission for you or, Him, to use mind magic on Harry. I can guarantee that the other three Heads haven't either as we would have told one another."

Amelia was busy calling for certain members of the Ministry to come to the aid of the situation. They waited patiently for the Aurors and Unspeakables to arrive.  
"Severus, can you let him down now?" asked Amelia, pointing at Quirrell. "We don't need you to hold him against the wall anymore. If you let him down, we can probably contain the wraith of Voldemort to stop him from attacking our world again."

"I'm not the one holding him up there," admitted Severus with awe in his voice. "I would have thought that with Harry leaving, the magic would have released him. Harry must be more powerful than we thought. With this ability to pick up on things, he seems to be more powerful than originally thought. I can't seem to get around his magic. Filius, would you go and retrieve Harry. He needs to be taught how to cancel his magic."

"That young man will make a great addition to our team," mentioned Croaker while they waited. "His power level at this stage in his training is great. He will be able to push the boundaries of magic further than anyone else ever has. That will include the supposed Dark Lord. While the fool was able to dabble in the Dark Arts, he isn't as powerful as he claims. If this is the type of magic Harry can do while he is only eleven, I would imagine that his Merlin level is somewhere near five hundred or greater at this point. When he reaches the age of seventeen, he will outclass everyone on the planet. With your permission, I would like to test him and those that are close to him."

"There is no way that Potter will be that powerful," hissed Voldemort from the wall. "I am the greatest wizard on the planet. Even that old fool can't compare to me. I will have my revenge on all of you before the day is out. If I have to level Hogwarts, I will. As the heir of Salazar Slytherin, I will be able to take over the wards of this castle."

"Not as long as Harry is alive," said Dumbledore before he thought about it. "He is the heir of both Salazar and Godric."  
When he realized what he said, he snapped his jaws shut tight. The four Heads and the Ministry personnel were smirking at the old man in amusement. Some things were just too good to be true. Dumbledore just assisted them in informing Voldemort that there was a new heir to the Slytherin line.

"You lie!" hissed Voldemort. "I am the last of the Slytherin line. How dare you call that upstart an heir?"  
"His mother is your daughter you idiot," hissed Albus right back. He was too incensed to keep his mouth closed. "You didn't think I knew? I had the Heir of Gryffindor marry the heiress of Slytherin to produce a child I could mold into my warrior. You are legally dead. Therefore, your title went to your daughter and then to her son. You tried to kill your own family. How sad is that?"

"How sad is it that you are going to jail?" asked Amelia with a triumphant smile on her face. "You just told the lot of us standing here that you helped orchestrate everything. We were trying to get you to admit to some of it and you just did. You are in so much trouble that your hair will be dragging the floor by the time that you get out of it. I do hope you are happy with yourself."

"I have admitted nothing," returned Albus. Voldemort was still on the wall thinking about everything that was said. He knew that there was a good reason why Potter had reflected the Killing Curse. It had to be because he was an heir.  
"Why didn't the curse reflect back to me when I killed his mother?" asked Voldemort while Filius re-entered the room with Harry and company. "If she was my daughter, then she would have been able to do the same thing that he did when I cast the Killing Curse. Why didn't it happen then?"

"Because I interfered," smirked Albus. "You would not be where you are right now without me Riddle. I suggest that you keep in mind that I have you owing me a life debt. You are still alive because I kept you alive all these years. You would have died in the magic had it not been for me."  
"What makes you so special?" asked Harry as he waved his hands and released Quirrell. "Why would you interfering make you so much better than he is? You are just as twisted as he is. Now I'm hearing that he is my grandfather. That is just sick that you would want to kill your own family just because of Dumbledore."

"I didn't know," admitted the Dark Lord. "Had I known, I would never have attacked you or your family that night. You are my flesh and blood. I can't fight with you as you are the new Lord of the Slytherin name. The old fool stripped me of my rights and gave them to you as he could control you better as you were just a babe. He orchestrated much that night."  
"That he did," said Severus with a glare. "The death of two members of the Hogwarts four is dead because of Albus Dumbledore. Is the prophecy real, or is it fake that you put in motion to have the Heirs of Slytherin fight one another?"

"Pip, pip vagina," said Luna coming into the room making everyone raise an eyebrow. "He won't be in jail for long. He will use his title to get out of it even though he is darker than Tom. Pip, Pip vagina."

"Wrong time for that Moon Dust," admonished Hermione. "Dumbledore is the last of the Ravenclaw line. We thought that Luna had Ravenclaw blood in her, but she doesn't. Dumbledore killed off the rest of the line and he is the sole heir left. If he can be the last of any of the Founder's heirs, then he would own the castle. Thus, he has been trying to get the Slytherin line to kill itself. We know that Salazar was NOT an evil man. The rumors about his fight were actually started by Dumbledore."

"How do you know that?" asked Dumbledore before Luna flicked her wand and turned him into the foot of a Raven.  
"Duh," said the rest of the platinum six in unison. "She likes to read. She found it in an old book that she took out of the library for light reading."

"Miss Lovegood," admonished Minerva pulling out her wand. "That will be ten points. You know what? Never mind! Fifty points for shutting him up. Amelia, can you get these two out of the school please? Pomona, get a hold of both Lucius and Augusta. Tell them we need the Board of Governors here to address the problems going on in the school. I assume the Department of Mysteries will get Voldemort out of Professor Quirrell safely?"

After getting nods from everyone, the group broke up to call it a night. What a day it had been for them all. They wanted to get some rest so that they could deal with the stupidity another day. To think that all this time, they had the Heirs of three of the Founders right under their noses and didn't know about all of them.


	8. Help Has Come

Meanwhile in another world, in another dimension, during the middle of the third age of Endor, a man, tall and thin, plucked a letter of parchment out of the air just above him amidst a blazing fireball. He unfurled it and read the three words written. 

Even though he was an aged man, he stood abruptly from where he had been sitting and strode over to his horse. He swung himself up into the saddle and galloped off. For many long leagues he rode, until after the fourth day, he arrived at the Council Hall. He dismounted and made his way to the great long white table and sat down in his allotted spot. He didn’t have to wait long before a lady with long waist-length golden hair, in robes of purest white made her elegant, yet gentle, way to the end of the table. Accompanying her was a man who was tall, thin, and has the build of a warrior of days long past. He had dark, waist-length hair, and he wore robes of fine and delicate hues. After helping the lady to her seat, he turned and made his way back down the table to his seat at the far end.

“You have travelled far my friend,” said the strong voice of the dark haired man. “What is it that you require of the council?”  
“My lord, I received this parchment four days past by phoenix fire,” the aged man replied, as he handed over the small letter.  
“Harry Potter… is in need of our help,” the lady stated, even before the dark haired man unfurled the parchment.  
The old man nodded. 

“He already has aid in the form of a ranger, but from what I have seen, said ranger and a few others travelled back in time to help change the outcome of a long and deadly war,” she stated. “They hope to save a lot more lives this time round. Yes, Harry Potter is in need of our help, and he shall have it. I’m afraid, from what I have seen in the waters, that Albus had lost his way. He shall be dealt with. There is also the one called Voldemort who is trying to regain a body. He has lost his mind in the process, due to splitting his soul more than once.” 

“What do you suggest, Lady?” asked the old man.  
The lady looked from the dark haired warrior lord at the far end of the table and back to the old man shrouded in fading grey robes with a smile. 

“You my wise friend shall travel to the world of men and Hogwarts to help aid young Harry Potter” she replied. “We will keep an eye out on things here in your absence, as well as on Dumbledore once you send him here. Hopefully he can redeem himself. Though from what I’ve seen so far, I have my doubts.”  


The aged man looked at her with surprised eyes and then turned to look at the dark haired warrior on his far left. Upon feeling the old man looking at him, the warrior spoke for the first time.

“We will help with the task that you were previously set my friend,” the warrior lord replied. 

“And how do I travel to Hogwarts?” asked the old man nodding. “It’ll be far too far on horseback.”  
“I shall send you and your horse there using starlight,” the lady finished.  
The aged man bowed his understanding.

 **\- RoT –**

Back across time and a great many dimension rifts at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry a new day had come. Unfortunately, Amelia and her Ministry employees were unable to completely remove Albus Dumbledore from the school as she had a moment or two later received an owl from Lucius Malfoy. So she had banished him to his office for the remainder of the night. Quirrell Hart had eventually left of his own accord, after being dropped from the ceiling and sulked back to his chambers.  
The day was spent not doing that much. Quirrell Hart had cancelled his classes for the day to go over this and that. Dumbledore had shattered everything in his office, including all the previous Headmasters and Mistresses portraits. Luckily they had fled before it was too late.  
The governors of the school were called in and had informed Minerva that something was happening or going to happen that was beyond their control. So they couldn’t be of much help. 

All they could say was that it had to do with old magic and that help was on its way.  
Later that day everyone entered the Great Hall for dinner only to find all but one table (other than the staff table) was devoid of silverware. It was situated parallel to the staff table and had all the benches in rows lined up between the table closest to them and the dais as the far end. The staff who were already seated, wondered what was going on.  
Soon all the students had taken a seat on the benches, facing the lone empty table. Once the doors to the Hall had shut, it was hidden behind a large cloth of pale pink. To some of the students it reminded them of the inside of Arabian tents. Above the table, and hanging from the enchanted ceiling, were more strips of cloth, all in shades of pinks and reds. 

Looking back at the empty table, everyone watched as Harry, Luna, Susan, Draco, Neville and Hermione all levitated themselves as one up on to the table-top. Standing a few inches apart from the other. The students and staff looked perplexed at what Luna was holding. It was a thin sheet of what looked like cardboard, but was in fact wood. She gave it a light wobble and it let off a weird sound. Harry then spoke loudly, for all to hear. 

“To mark the respect of King ‘Crackpot’ and his Court, I have written a little song just for him. It gets pretty fast as each verse goes on. If you think you can keep up, please feel free to join in when I give you your cue. Luna get ready with the wobble board.”  
Harry grinned before starting his jaunty song. 

_‘Now the ladies of the Harem of the Court of King Crackpot, were just passing by. All together Baz…’_

Neville, Susan, Luna, Hermione and Draco all joined Harry by singing the same verse three more times, while all doing a weird and funny dance routine in sync as well. Whenever they got to the word ‘Crackpot’, they would all point and give an overly dramatic ostentatious bow to Dumbledore.  
The second verse was slightly faster… 

_‘Now the noses of the Nifflers on the faces of the ladies of the Harem of the Court of King Your-a-Dick, were just passing by.’_

All the kids in front of the staff table joined in with Harry and his friends in repeating the same verse three times.  
The third verse was faster still… 

_‘Now the boys, who put the powder on the noses of the Nifflers on the faces of the ladies of the Harem of the Court of King Anal-Fool, were just passing by.’_  


Up at the staff table all the teachers barring Dumbledore were rolling about in their chairs laughing their heads off at the sour look on Dumbledore’s face and at Harry and his friend’s antics. 

The fourth verse was even faster than before, and all done in one breathe like its predecessors… 

_‘Now the fascinating witches, who put the scintillating stitches in the breeches of the boys, who put the powder on the noses of the Nifflers, on the faces of the ladies of the Harem of the Court of King Fiddle-your-Scrote were just passing by.’_

The students seated on the benches were having trouble keeping up and trying to do the verse in a single breath. Most were failing, but yet finding it funny all the same. Harry and friends were able to somehow keep from laughing outright as they looked out and everyone and yet they continued to sing in one breath and not cock up at all. On the final verse Harry sang alone and at top speed… 

_‘Now, if you want to take some pictures of the fascinating witches, who put the scintillating stitches in the breeches of the boys, who put the powder on the noses of the Nifflers, on the faces of the ladies of the Harem of the Court of King Crinkly Dick … Your too late!’_

“Too late?!” echoed Susan, Draco, Neville, Hermione and Luna. 

“They’ve just passed, by.” Harry sang out, with Luna ending the song by wobbling her wobble board for all it was worth like a whirling dervish.  
Every one of the students in front of them stood up and gave loud applause, cheer and whistles. Almost all of the staff stood up too, minus Dumbledore and Ian Hart, the latter which seemed to have developed a serious case of a nervous twitch around his left eye.  
After all had been put to rights and all four house tables had been conjured back into place, everyone sat down as the feast appeared and dug in with ravenous gusto. 

**\- RoT –**

Half way through dinner, the chatter in the Great Hall was halted as everyone stopped eating and looked over at the centre of the room. A bright light appeared out of nowhere hovering in the air in-between the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw tables. It slowly got bigger and brighter, until it died out. There in its place stood a large dark brown horse.  
Sitting on its back, shrouded in a faded grey cloak, was a tall old man holding a long white staff. He had a longish white beard and a head of white hair that reached just below his shoulders. The horse reared up on its hind legs. Harry and Hermione dropped their forks when they realized who he was.

“Albus Dumbledore, son of Gummy-Bum Lemon-Lover, son of Madam Woo alias Emperor Chong of Badcock, five time tripe champion,” said the man, in a commanding tone while sniggering broke out across the Great Hall. “Your time in the Wizarding World has come to a halt. The time for trial has come. You’ll not be needing the wand that does not belong to you.” 

The old man dismounted his faithful friend. After stepping away from the animal, it wondered over to Luna Lovegood and took the carrot she held out. The man walked serenely up the hall between the tables and just before the raised dais, he turned and shifted, causing his grey cloak to fall away from his shoulders to reveal all white robes underneath. Facing Dumbledore dead on, he raised his staff and the wand in Albus’ pocket flew out and into the White Wizard’s other hand. 

“Gandalf?” called a surprised voice in the crowd.  
The White Wizard turned around with his back to Dumbledore, facing the students. He looked over to the person who had spoken.  
"Harry Potter,” he said, “So long has the Lady Galadriel and Lord Elrond Half-Elven been keeping watch on you and the rest of the Wizarding World.” 

“Gandalf’s _real_?” Draco asked.  
“Indeed I am young Master Malfoy, son of Lucius, son of Abraxas. Gandalf the White, previously Grey, is very real. BE STILL!” he added as he turned around and found Dumbledore standing. 

“I must protest, Stormcrow!”

“Be quiet, Gummy-Bum!” Gandalf went on, as he stepped up onto the dais. Dumbledore sat back down, as Quirrell stood up. “Be silent. Keep your forked-tongue behind your teeth, Thomas Marvolo Riddle alias Voldemort, alias Pixie Hot-Muffin – part time bottle washer and spinster of No Fixed Abode. I have not travelled all this way to bandy words a witless Half-Blood worm.’

Quirrell Hart blanched. 

Gandalf raised his staff and brought it down upon the flagstone floor hard. The sound of heavy thunder rumbled around the Hall. Everyone present watched as Dumbledore disappeared from sight.  
“Where’d he go?” Susan asked. 

“I have sent him to Middle-Earth, young Mistress Bones.” Gandalf replied with a sigh, as he leaned heavily on his staff. “Where hopefully, he can redeem himself.”  
Harry got up, came forward, and helped the now weary White Wizard around the table and into Dumbledore’s vacated chair.  
“Are you alright, Mr. Gandalf?” 

"I am quite fine, young Master Potter,” answered Gandalf. “I am a little weary and tired from the long journey. I had no idea it would be quite so long and exhausting, travelling from Middle-Earth to Wizarding Britain. I wonder how the Lady Galadriel and Lord Elrond are. I expect that they will be tired also.”  
Severus leaned over and passed the White Wizard a large goblet of wine. 

“Thank you Severus, son of Tobias,” Gandalf nodded, as he took the goblet and drank. He took another sip, then set his goblet down. “That’s good.”  
“But…” Vector faltered, cleared her throat and tried again. “But, isn’t Middle-Earth a fictional world?” she asked as she looked from Severus to Gandalf and back again. “You told us it was, Severus.” 

“And Severus was right to some degree. Have you ever heard of Avalon?” Gandalf went on when he got nods of affirmation. “Well to most, Middle-Earth is much like Avalon. Is it myth, legend, fact, fiction or real? Middle-Earth is very much real and being one of the Rangers of the North, Severus was posted here to help keep Endor – Middle Earth a world of fiction. The High Council of Elves, Dwarves, Men, Hobbits and Wizards gathered along with a muggle professor and all agreed to write about the great battles of Endor’s history. So far, thanks to Professor Tolkien’s books, Middle-Earth has remained just that. A work of fiction.”  
Gandalf paused and took another long sip of the delicious wine.  
“There is another reason why Middle-Earth is the key to all things magical.” Here Gandalf took another sip. “Without Middle-Earth magic doesn’t exist…" 

The silence was deafening. 

**\- RoT -**

"So, Severus is part of the Dúnadan?" Harry asked aloud, to no one in particular, finally breaking the on-going silence.  
"Correct, Princess Pretty Pony,” Severus replied, with a wink and smile, making everyone laugh. Gandalf raised an eyebrow and Pixie Hot Muffin’s left eye began to twitching violently.  
“I suppose we have to stop using those names and stop acting like we have been now, now that Gummy-Bum has gone,' Harry continued. 'I’ll miss that. It was fun driving him around the bend and up the wall. But what we now do with Pixie Hot Muffin, I cannot say.' 

“Leave that to me,” Luna replied serenely with a hint of mysticism, as she turned and left the Hall. After she had closed the doors behind her, she stepped out onto the grounds where she then sounded off a call into the air. It was a sound that no one living had ever heard before.

Back inside the Great Hall everyone looked around in wonderment at what the loony girl from Ravenclaw could do. A minute later Luna returned. She stepped through the door and closed it behind her before she made her serene journey back up the Hall to where Harry and the rest were. 

“Help,” she said, at their puzzled expressions, “is on its way.” 

“What did you do, Moon- Luna?” Hermione asked.

“I made a call,” came the ominous reply.

 **\- RoT -**

Far away, again in a far off land in another time, another place, in another dimension, in the land of animals and men, sat a regal fellow of a fierce nature with a kind heart. His large golden eyes looked out onto his land of hills, trees, and large open spaces of green, dotted with man dwellings. He ruled his country, where man and beast lived together as one. He was just thinking of going to visit one of his many friends, when a call sounded around him. A call of magic. A call he hadn't heard for close to a millennia. The call of a hunter's horn... 

His golden eyes widening, he stood, before making his regal way down the steps of the dais he had been sitting on, and left the golden hall...

 **\- RoT -**

Back in the Great Hall of Hogwarts School, everyone was looking from Luna to Harry to Gandalf. Gandalf had been reacquainting himself with Severus and getting to know the Professors of Hogwarts, when a loud roar-like call could be heard from the grounds. 

“He's here.” Luna stated, mystifying everyone around her. 

Everyone looked to the teachers, then back to the Looney girl, before their heads swiveled around to the doors to the Hall, which opened omitting two unicorns of purest white. The two creatures stood there like guard statues. Then came in a flurry of pink and red blossom and made a beeline to Luna. 

The flurry of blossoms then arranged themselves into the figure of a human, who bowed to Luna, before stepping aside. Next to come in was Firenze the Centaur. He came up to Harry and bowed to him, before he took his place next to the Dryad. 

“They haven't been seen in the Wizarding World since the time of Merlin,” Neville whispered to Draco, as he pointed to the Dryad. 

Just as Neville had finished, the doors which had closed again after Firenze had come in, automatically opened once more to reveal the largest lion anyone seated in the Hall had ever laid eyes on. 

There was no sound whatsoever as the mighty beast made its slow, calm and regal way up the centre of the Great Hall. It stopped next to Luna. Everyone could have sworn the animal out right smiled at her, as it gave the girl a bow of its regal head. 

“My, how I have missed you, child,” the lion said in a soft deep tone. “Daughter of Eve.” 

Luna smiled and gave her long lost friend a big hug. 

“Dear Aslan,” she said. “It’s been too long.” 

As she let go of him, Aslan smiled once again at her, before he continued up onto the dais in front of the staff table. Upon reaching it, he addressed Gandalf. 

“Gandalf, my son, son of Myrddin Emrys, I would ask how things are going in Middle-Earth, but as we are not there, I ask why have you been called?” 

“For that, my Lord Aslan, you would need to speak with Harry Potter and his friends, which includes Queen Lucy's reincarnated form Luna,” answered Gandalf. 

Harry turned to Luna. 

“You’re Lucy Pevensey?” Harry asked surprised, as he turned to Luna. “One of the four High Kings and Queens of Narnia?” 

Luna simply smiled serenely at him, not at all offended. Harry let out a low whistle. “Merlin!”

“Yes?” came a reply.

Harry's head snapped around so fast along with everyone else's, apart from Gandalf, Severus and Luna’s, he was sure he got whiplash. A rabbit of grey in colour and four times the size of your ordinary rabbit with a long furry beard, replied in a deep tone.

“Y-you’re M-Merlin?” Draco stuttered. The rabbit chuckled appraisingly at the blonde. 

“Indeed.” Merlin replied, before he hopped over to sit beside Aslan. 

After conversing with the Great Lion for a moment or two, Merlin, along with Gandalf and Aslan all stepped to the side of the Hall, away from Ian Hart, and spoke in low tones to each other.

Luna then entered their debate a little later and said that they couldn’t kill Voldy, as he was Harry’s grandfather and that he was the last remaining family that Harry had left. Merlin was all for trying to fix Pixie Hot Muffin. Gandalf wasn’t so sure the creature could be fixed. However, it was Aslan who suggested that they at least give it a go, for Harry’s sake. 

So, together they agreed and Aslan gave a roar that shook the foundations of the Great Hall as well as the rest of Hogwarts. 

“What’s going on?” Harry asked. 

“Your Grandfather is about to get some much needed help.” Luna replied dreamily. 

Harry nodded and Luna smiled at him. About ten minutes passed before the doors to the Great Hall opened and in came a group of brightly coloured bears. Their faces were full of love and smiles. Each bear, the students noticed as they walked past chattering excitedly amongst themselves, had a different picture on their stomachs.


	9. Meddling In Middle-Earth

With Quirrell-Hart now gone from Hogwarts, every one of the Great Hall's occupants cheered. Harry meanwhile couldn't get over how Quirrell-Hart was evicted from the school. The group of colourful, cheerful bears had all gathered round the man, all oozing multitudes of love and care, happiness and fun - while proclaiming that the Purple Prancing Unicorns in their world, up in their cloudscape playland would keep the man company until he returned to his old sane self again. If he ever could, after being subjected to the Care Bears and their overly cheerful ways. Harry smiled and along with everyone else he watched as the Care Bears pulled the screaming and pleading man along with them back down the center of the Hall. With the madness gone, everyone settled down somewhat. They all talked amongst themselves until dinner had ended and everyone made their way to their common rooms. Everyone except Harry and Luna. Hermione, Draco and Neville had already left with the others. 

"Well," Harry said, to no one in particular. "This has been an eventful evening." 

"First Gummy-Bum, now Quirrell-Hart," Luna chuckled. "I wonder how they'll be in their new worlds." 

"With Hart, I can't even begin to imagine what will happen with him." Harry went on. "But with Dumbles, I'll bet he's still the same as he always has been. Manipulative. Trying to get his own way." 

Up at the teachers table Gandalf was talking softly to Aslan and Merlin, while the teachers made their way to either their chambers or to make sure their House was okay. 

"Well, as you said Harry, it has been an eventful day." Luna went on. "So, I think I'll turn in. Goodnight." 

Harry smiled and Luna stood up, went up the Hall to Aslan and hugged him, said goodnight to him, Gandalf and Merlin before turning and skipping back down the center of the Hall between the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw tables and out through the doors. After a moment or two Harry stood up and stretched before he turned to leave, only he was stopped by Merlin. 

"Would you like to go on one last nightly adventure, my boy?" He asked. 

"Who's going? And what does it entail?" Harry asked with a raised brow. 

"Gandalf will be going with you.” assured Merlin. All you need to do just follow. Nothing harmful will happen to you." 

"Well, if Gandalf is going then I know that nothing harmful will happen, so why not." Stated Harry.

In the later evening sun, Gandalf, along with Harry made their way out of the castle and on to the grounds. Down the sloping paths they went in silence, until they got to the edge of the Black Lake. Here, they stopped and Harry asked why they had come down here. Before Gandalf could reply Aslan and Merlin the rabbit appeared out of the growing darkness and joined them at the lake's edge. 

"We, Harry, are about to take a trip across the lake." Gandalf replied, as he stood there, staff in hand, looking out across the dark flat water. 

A light appeared suddenly out of the growing darkness in front of them, slowly getting bigger. After about three or four minutes a rather large ancient looking boat moored itself in front of the small group. No one was in it by the look of it, or what Harry could make out from the large lantern hanging off the bow. One at a time they each got in, Aslan stood regally at the front, while Gandalf and Merlin took up the stern with Harry taking a seat in the middle. Once everyone was settled the boat began to drift of its own accord out a little, before it turned and took off the way it had come, gliding smoothly and silently at a medium speed across the vast expanse of black water. As the light got smaller the further out they went, if anyone had been on the bank of the lake they would've seen a strange, eerie and dense mist begin to drift across the lake sealing off the boat's light and the boat itself from view... 

**\- RWT -**

Meanwhile in another land, in a far-off dimension, Albus Dumbledore was causing problems for the people of Middle-Earth. When he first appeared in the land of Magic itself, he was given the task by the deity of all things Magic herself to guide two Hobbits on to the right paths. He didn't know what a Hobbit was and was a bit miffed that he had been dragged out of his world and into a completely new and unknown world to him. What he did know was that he could still do magic, thank Merlin! He was given a newly crafted staff, that he didn't need. Staffs were cumbersome at best. But the deity said that he would need it in this land, as Wizard Magic wasn't the only magic here. Once he had been told of his orders and given a complete history of Gandalf's memories, Dumbledore was sent on his way via horse and shabby cart filled with fireworks over many leagues through the Elvin realms of Lothorian and Rivendell, over mountains and under them, through Bree where he stopped for a night before continuing on, until he reached the Shire and Hobbiton. The land of the small folk. 

They looked like children to his eyes. And they were a race of adults and children? Shaking his head, Dumbledore continued on over the bridge and round windy narrow roads, past oddly shaped houses built into the ground, past farmland, all the way up to the little house on the hill under a large tree. 

He stepped down from his cart - leaving his blasted staff in the back - opened the gate and up the short path. He knocked upon the round green front door. 

" _No thank you!_ " came a voice from somewhere inside. " _We don't want any visitors, well-wishers or distant relations!"_

Albus raised a brow. _Hm,_ he thought, _what was it that fool of a deity told me of this particular Hobble-it? No, Hobbit. Ah!_

"And what about very old friends!" He called out. 

The door opened inward and there stood a Hobbit no older than fifty or so. 

"Gandal--" the Hobbit faltered, expecting to see his friend of old, Gandalf the Grey, but instead here was someone he had never seen before. "Who're you good sir? My name is Bilbo Baggins of Bag End."

"I am Albus Dumbledore," Albus went on, in a way that stated that everyone knew who he was, only here in this world no one did. "I am a far wiser Wizard than that Gandalf fellow and I have come to be here for your birthday, how old are you now? Fifty-one?" 

Bilbo laughed. 

"Yes, I could be classed as no older than fifty, but I am in fact celebrating my one hundred and eleventh birthday this evening. And any friend of Gandalf is a friend of mine. Come in, come." 

Albus had to stoop down so he could fit inside the hole. Once the door was shut again, he stood upright and bashed his head on the ceiling, then taking a step forwards he walked face first into a small wooden chandelier. So he was reduced to stay stopping, like some common old man. The Hobbit had run of down the hall to the kitchen to make tea, while Albus made his way around the little house. In the crowded living room area, it was filled with bits of parchment old and new. One was of a map of middle earth, depicting a lonely mountain with a crudely drawn dragon flying round it, as well as the place where Girion Lord of Dale was, the Running River, The Gateway of the Long Lake, Esgarath, West Lies Mirkwood and the spiders, and to the far north the Grey Mountains etc. Albus was perplexed, the deity hadn't said anything about a quest to any of these places, just that he had to help guide two Hobbits. Well, he'd met one of the two he was supposed to meet. He wondered if he would be seeing the other tonight at the celebration of Bilbo's birthday. It was Bilbo, wasn't it? Or did he say his name was Bilwo? Not really giving a damn, Albus sat down and looked around wondering dejectedly if he would ever get back to his world and Hogwarts. 

After a while of contemplation Bilbo called to say that tea was ready and together they sat in the kitchen and over tea, Bilbo told Albus his woes. About how he felt old - even though he didn't look it - that he felt stretched, like butter being scraped over too much bread. That he needed an extended holiday, one that he didn't expect he'd return from. All the while fingering his breast pocket. 

"You will keep an eye on Frodo, won't you?" 

"Two eyes. As often as I can spare them." Albus replied, not really wanting to stay here any longer than he needed to. 

That night the party was in full swing, Albus found some small enjoyment as he set off his fabulous fireworks, he was annoyed though when he went to get the biggest firework of all and found that it wasn't on his cart. He found the two culprits in two young Hobbits (who were much like the Weasley twins), named Merriadock Brandybuck and Perragrin Took and took pleasure in scolding them for scaring the party goers. As the party was drawing closer to the end, Bilbo stood up on a table and drunkenly thanked everyone for coming to celebrate with him his hundred and eleventh Birthday. He quickly became still after a few bad jokes and placed his hands behind his back, as he said that he was going now. Everyone was shocked, none more so that Albus as Bilbo Baggins vanished from sight as though he had apperated. 

**\- RWT -**

"I suppose, you think that was terribly clever." 

"Oh, come on, Albus! Did you see their faces?" 

"There are many magic rings in this world, Bilbo Baggins and _none_ of them should be used lightly." Albus stated. 

"It was just a bit of fun... oh, I suppose you're right as usual." Bilbo replied, as he packed the last of his things, took hold of his old walking stick and opened the door. 

"Well, I must be going. I'm leaving everything to Frodo." 

"What about this ring of yours? Is that staying too?" 

"Yes, yes. It's over there in an envelope on the mantelpiece..." 

Albus turned to look. 

"No, no, it's here in my pocket." Bilbo said, as he took the ring out and looked at his closely. "Huh, isn't that odd that. Yet, after all why not? Why shouldn't I keep it?" He continued on, more to himself than to the wizard behind him. 

"I think you should leave the ring behind, Bilbo. Is that so hard?" 

"Well, no. And yes... Now it comes to it, I don't feel like parting with it. It's mine! I found it! It came for me!" 

"There's no need to get angry." 

"Well, if I'm angry it's _your_ fault!" Bilbo replied angrily. "It's mine... My own... My _precious_." 

"Precious?" Albus returned, brown furrowed, he had been given the lowdown from the deity about Bilbo's treasure and so knew that he wasn't the first to covet the ring with that phrase. "It's been called that before, but not by you." 

"Oh, what business is it of yours, with what I do with my own thing?!" Bilbo shouted at Albus. 

"I think you've had that ring quite long enough--" 

"You want it for yourself!" 

"Bilbo Baggins!" Albus thundered down on the little man, using the power of voice. "Do not take me as some conjurer of cheap tricks! I'm not trying to rob you. I'm trying to help you." 

"Oh, oh." Bilbo whimpered sadly and came forward wide eyed into Albus' arms. 

Albus wasn't exactly pleased about having to cuddle this pipsqueak, but he wanted power. He didn't want the ring, as he saw the effect it had on Bilbo, no, he wanted the power behind the ring. Only to get that power, he would have to keep close to the ring itself. 

**\- RWT -**

"Bilbo, the ring is still in your pocket." 

"Is it?" The old Hobbit removed the ring and held it flat in his palm, his eyes glues to it.

"Leave the ring for Frodo." 

Albus could see the pull the ring had on Bilbo, as he watched as the old Hobbit finally let the ring fall to the floor with a surprisingly heavy thud. Bilbo rushed out of the open door and stopped, took a deep breath and turned back to face Albus. 

"I've finally thought of an ending to my book. _'..and he lived happily ever after, till the end of his days.'_ " 

"I'm sure you will, my dear Bilbo." 

Bilbo smiled at the man and walked off down the path, singing softly the road goes ever on and on, down from the door where it began. 

Albus turned back into the house and slowly walked up to tower over the little gold ring on the floor at his feet. He stared at it for a moment or two, before bending down to pick it up only to reel back as he got a flash of an evil flame red eye and a voice muttering over and over like a pounding heart beat an old elvish verse. Albus' eyes went wide. Later that same night after the party had ended Frodo Baggins, Bilbo's nephew came home calling for Bilbo, but only finding Albus seated by the fire, deep in thought as he continuously puffed at his long pipe, filling the room with swirls of smoke while murmuring words Frodo couldn't quite make out. 

"Albus?" 

"Hm?" Albus blinked and looked up at Frodo. "Bilbo's gone to stay with the Elves. He's left you Bag End, along with all of his possessions. The ring is yours now. Put it somewhere out of sight." 

With that, Albus got up and hurried for his hat, his blasted staff and the front door with Frodo hurrying after him asking where he was going? 

"There are some things that I must see too. Questions. Questions that need answering." 

"But you've only just arrived. I don't understand." Frodo replied, coming to a stop behind the wizard. 

Albus paused in the open doorway and battled with his own will not to turn around and blast the boy where he stood. He sighed and turned. 

"Neither do I." Albus stated. "Remember, keep it secret. Keep it safe." 

And with that the wizard was gone. 

For many leagues Albus rode from the Shire, through Rohan all the way to Minis Terith where he stopped and saw the fires of Mount Doom on the other side of the mountains light up the horizon. He spurred his horse and made haste up to and into the white city, the city of kings Minis Terith. All the way he rode, through the many levels until he came to the archive rooms. Here he dismounted and hurried in and down into the deepest parts of the archive, where he began his search on the historic documents for anything related to the ring. 

Eventually he came across an old parchment document and began to read. _..The year 3434, of the 2nd age... here follows the account of Isilador, High King of Gondor and the finding of the Ring of power. 'It has come to me, the One Ring which shall be an heirloom of my Kingdom. All that shall follow in my bloodline shall be bound to its fate, for I shall risk no hurt to the Ring... It is precious to me. Though I buy it with a great pain... the markings on the band begin to fade. The writing which was at first clear as red flame, has all but disappeared. A secret now that only fire can tell...'_

After a good night out of drinking, unbeknownst that anything was happening outside of the Shire in the wider world, Frodo Baggins stepped into his home under the hill. All was dark and what was left of Bilbo's things were flying about as though a window had been left open. Something wasn't right, even in his drunken state Frodo could tell. As he crept through the halls, he came across an window - that he had shut before going out earlier that evening - Frodo continued on down another hall and stopped, as a cold uncertain feeling crept up on him. He looked down the dark hallway, when a large hand came out of the darkness behind him and grabbed his shoulder pulling him around. 

**\- RWT -**

Albus' face came out of the dark corner he was sitting in, looking haggard and worn. His long waist length hair was greasy and stringy about his face, and his eyes were blown.

"Is it secret? Is it safe?" He asked with hurried hoarseness. 

Frodo hurried over to one of Bilbo's old chests, opened the lid and began searching through it for the envelope containing the ring. A crow cawed from outside and had Albus all jumpy. Frodo found the envelope and gave it to the wizard, who hurried over to the fire and threw it in. 

"What are you doing?" Frodo asked as he watched the envelope burn to ash, but the ring did nothing but glow in the firelight. 

Albus then took hold of the fire tongs and gently picked up the ring with them, pulling it back and stared at it for a moment. 

"Hold out your hand, Frodo. It's quite cool." 

With that said, Frodo held out his hand palm up and Albus dropped the ring on to it, put back the tongs and stood up. 

"What can you see?" Albus asked. "Can you see anything?" 

"Nothing." Frodo replied, as he turned the ring over in his fingers. 

Albus gave a sigh of relief. 

"Wait..." 

Albus stood still, his eyes moving to look out of his peripheral vision. 

"There are strange markings... it's some form of Elvish, I can't read it." 

"There are few who can." Albus returned, as he turned to face Frodo. "The language is that of Mordor, which I will not utter here." 

"Mordor?" 

"In the common tongue it says; 'One Ring to rule them all. One Ring to find them. One Ring to bring them all, and in the darkness bind them'. This is the One Ring, forged by the Dark Lord Sauron in the fires of Mount Doom. Taken by Isilador from the hand of Sauron himself." 

"Bilbo found it, in Gollum's cave." 

"Yes, for sixty years it lay quiet in Bilbo's keeping. Prolonging his life, delaying old age, but no-longer Frodo. Evil is stirring in Mordor. The Ring has awoken. It's heard its Master's call." 

"But he was destroyed. Sauron was destroyed." 

Both Albus and Frodo's eyes fell on to the Ring as they both heard a deep voice speak one word of Elvish in a whisper. 

"No, Frodo," Albus went on with seriousness in his tone, "The spirit of Sauron endured. His life-force is bound to the Ring and the Ring survived. Sauron has returned. His Orcs have multiplied, his fortress at Baradûr is rebuilt in the land of Mordor. Sauron needs only this Ring to cover the lands in a second darkness, he is seeking it, all his thought is bent on it. The Ring yearns to return to the hand of its master. They are One. The Ring and the Dark Lord. Frodo, he must never find it." 

As soon as he heard that, Frodo stood up, grabbed the Ring and stormed off into another room proclaiming that they could hide it. That nobody knew it was in the Shire. 

"No one knows it's here do they, Albus?" 

Albus stood up too and followed the boy into the other room. 

"Do they, Albus?" 

"There is one other who knew that Bilbo had the Ring. I looked everywhere for the creature Gollum, but the enemy found him first. I don't know how long they tortured him, amongst the endless screams and inane babble they discerned two words, Shire and Baggins." 

"Shire, Baggins?!" Frodo cried. "But that would lead them here! Take it Albus! You must take it!" 

"No Frodo! No, you cannot offer me this Ring!" 

"I'm giving it to you!" 

"Don't! Tempt me Frodo!" Albus replied using the voice once again. "I dare not take it." He continued on, his voice now back to normal. "Not even to keep it safe. Understand Frodo, I would use this Ring for good. But through me, it would Wield a power too great and terrible to imagine." 

Albus wasn't actually sure that that would happen, he didn't believe that this Ring would have any effect on him or his magic, but he wasn't going to risk it. Well, not just yet anyway. "But it cannot stay in the Shire!" Frodo persisted. 

"No. No, it can't." 

Frodo looked away from the wizard and down at the floor wondering what he could do, the only alternative that he could see was to follow in old Bilbo's steps and take it out of the Shire himself.  
"What must I do?" He asked looking back up at Albus. 

"You must leave. And leave quickly. Get out of the Shire. Make for the village of Bree." Albus said hurriedly, as he helped the boy pack a few things for the road. As Frodo hurried into other rooms, with Albus following on behind, he asked what Albus would be doing. 

"I'll be waiting for you, at the inn of the Prancing Pony. But I'm not sure if the Ring will be safe there. I don't have any answers. I must see the head of my order." Albus continued, but he said the word order with distain, as though anyone would be over the great Albus Dumbledore! "He is both wise and powerful. Trust me, Frodo. He'll know what to do." 

Nodding Frodo went to grab his coat. 

"You'll also have to leave the name of 'Baggins' behind you. That name is not safe outside of the Shire. Also, travel only by day. And stay off the road. 

Suddenly there was a noise from outside the window. 

"Get down." Albus said, taking his staff and creeping up to the window quietly, he stopped and thrust his staff forward and down sharply, stabbing it into the verge under the window. 

"OW!" Came from the verge. 

Albus threw aside his staff - which was obviously good for hitting unsuspecting people with - leant down and hauled up and in through the window... 

"Confound it all Samwise Gamgee! Have you been eavesdropping?" 

"I haven't been dropping no eaves, sir. Honest. I was just cutting the grass under the window there, if you follow me." 

"A little late for trimming the verge, don't you think?" Albus asked sarcastically. 

"I heard raised voices." 

"What did you hear? Speak!" Albus thundered. 

"N-Nothing important. That is, I heard a good deal about a ring, a Dark Lord and something about the end of the world but--" Sam replied quickly. "Please, Mr. Albus, sir, don't hurt me. Don't turn me into anything... unnatural." 

"No? Perhaps not." Albus replied. I've already thought of a better use for you." 

At dawn the wizard and the two Hobbits left the confines of Bag End and the Hobbiton behind them, making their way across field and dale, hoping to outrun the enemy who were closing in on the Shire. 

"Come along, Samwise. Keep up." It was some time later in the day, once they were partially hidden in amongst the trees near the Brandywine River, that Albus left them. 

"Be careful, both of you. The enemy has many spies in his service: Birds, beasts. Is it safe?" 

Frodo nodded. 

"Never put it on..." Albus stated, as he got down on one knee in front of the boy. "For the agents of the Dark Lord will be drawn to its power. Always remember, Frodo, the Ring is trying to get back to its master. It wants to be found." 

With that said, Albus stood up, mounted his horse and rode off quickly eastward to the way they had come, leaving to young Hobbits in the middle of the wooded path. 

**\- RWT -**

For many leagues Albus rode like the wind from the West Farthing all the way to Isengard, home of the wizard Saruman the White. In through the grounds he rode all the way up to the grand steps leading up into the black tower. Half way down those steps stood Saruman, his voice deep and clear on the air. 

"Smoke rises from the Mountain of Doom. The hour grows late. And Albus Dumbledore rides to Isengard, seeking my counsel. For that is why you have come, is it not?"

"Saruman." Albus bowed, even though he bowed to no-one. 

Together the two wizards took a walk in the grounds, the tower of Insegard looming up over them behind the trees. 

"-You are sure of this?" 

"Beyond any doubt." Albus returned. 

"So the Ring of Power has been found." 

"All these long years, it was in the Shire. Right under Gandalf's very nose, and now mine." 

"And yet Gandalf did not have the wit to see it, and neither did you, until now. Gandalf, I can understand. His love of the halfling's leaf has clearly slowed his mind." Saruman continued. 

"Be that as it may, we still have time. Time enough to counter Sauron if we act quickly." 

"Time?" Snapped the White Wizard. "What time do you think we have?" 

They retired to Saruman's inner sanctum inside Isengard tower, where Saruman sat at his desk and Albus stood off to one side. 

"Sauron has regained much of his former strength. He cannot yet take physical form... but his spirit has lost none of its potency. Concealed within his fortress, the Lord of Mordor sees all. His gaze pierces cloud, shadow, earth and flesh." Saruman stated, then he leant forwards conspiratorially. "You know of what I speak, Albus. A Great Eye, lidless, wreathed in flame." 

"The Eye of Sauron." Albus whispered, leaning heavily on his staff - another good thing it was useful as, a leaning tool. 

"He is gathering all evil to him. Very soon, he'll have summonsed an army... great enough for an assault upon Middle-earth." 

"You know this?" Albus asked. "How?" 

"I have seen it." Saruman said, turning away from Albus. 

They took a short walk out of the office and down the hall and into a large hexagonal shaped room, with a short column of granite standing in the center, on top was a silk black cloth hanging. 

"A Palantír is a dangerous tool, Saruman." 

"Why? Why should we fear to use it?" 

With that said, Saruman ripped off the black cloth from the large solid black marble ball. 

"They are not all accounted for, the lost Seeing-stones. We do not know who else may be watching." Albus snatched the cloth from Saruman's hands, whipped round and recovered the ball, getting a flash of Sauron's eye as he touched the ball through the cloth. 

"The hour is later than you think. Sauron' forces are already moving." Saruman stated as he stepped up to his throne, set upon a high dais of granite steps. "The Nine have left Minas Morgul." 

"The Nine?" Albus whispered, as he stepped forwards a few paces. Staring wide-eyed at his White counterpart. 

"They crossed the River Isen on Midsummer's Eve, disguised as riders in black." 

"They've reached the Shire?" Albus asked paling slightly. 

"They will find the Ring. And kill the one who carries it." 

"Frodo!" Albus mumbled and turned sharply, making for the door. 

The doors slammed closed. Albus faltered then headed for the other doors, only before he got there they were closed with force. 

"You did not seriously think that a Hobbit could contend with the will of Sauron?" Saruman stated. "There are none who can." 

Albus turned back slowly to face the White Wizard on his throne. 

"Against the power of Mordor, there can be no victory." Saruman continued. "We must do the only thing we can, we must join with him, Albus. We must join with Sauron." 

Albus stepped ever closer to Saruman, a look of disbelief on his face as well as incredulity. 

"It would be wise, my friend." 

"Tell me... friend... when did Saruman the Wise abandon reason for madness?" Albus parried back. 

Saruman stood up and with his staff aimed it at Albus, while Albus threw aside his staff and raised his hands, knocking a surprised White Wizard off his feet and on the steps of his dais - where he ended up rolling down the rest of the way to sprawl face first on the floor. Once he was back on his feet, Saruman jabbed his staff at Albus who went flying up into the wall and was kept there held by magic, ten feet off the ground until Saruman released him and he fell face first to the floor. Getting angry himself now, Albus (panting heavily) got to his knees and wandlessly knocked his white robed counterpart backwards several feet, smashing the man back first through the locked closed doors, back into Saruman's office. All these wizards really did to each other was make the other do flips forwards and back and smash into things. It wasn't much of a duel, it was more like to children not getting their own way and ending in a scuffle. This one however had an advantage. Magic. 

Saruman was still surprised that the old boy didn't need his staff. He smirked and raised his left hand, Albus' staff was summoned into the white one's hand. 

"Never throw away your staff, you might find yourself in need of it." Albus didn't rise to the bait and dressing down, and continued on trying to prove he was the better fighter. Only, he had left fighting and dueling behind many years ago, when he had become Headmaster of Hogwarts. He was doing somewhat well for a man out of practice, that was until he slid across the floor and the top of his head got smashed into a solid marble, spiral legged table. 

"I gave you the chance..." Saruman said, breathing heavily as he wielded the two staffs down at Albus' crumpled form on the floor. "..of aiding me willingly... but you have elected the way of pain!" 

And with that, he raised the staffs together raising Albus up with them. All Albus remembered was flying violently fast up towards the tower's high vaulted ceiling, before all went black.

Sometime later, he wasn't sure how long he had been out for, It may have been a day or two due to the fact that it was night when Albus woke up and found himself lying face down on the very top of Isengard tower. He got up slowly and walked over to the edge, he looked down and found carnage below. The beautiful grounds were littered with goblins, all pulling down the trees. In the distance the River Isen had been damned up. Albus drew his grey cloak tightly around himself and sat down, huddled, leaning his back up against on of the four tower spires just as the rain began to fall. It didn't take the goblins long to raise the gardens of Isengard to the ground. What had been beautiful gardens not too long ago was now a burning, uprooted, cavern and opencast mining infestation and Goblin central. Up out of the caverns flew a moth. It flew round the grounds getting higher, until it had spiraled its way to the very top of the tower. It flew downward gliding across the flat roof, only to be encased in a pair of hands. Albus brought the caught moth up to his face and began to whisper some old tongue language, before letting it go free. 

**\- RWT -**

"Where am I?" 

"You are in the house of Elrond." A voice replied. "And it is ten o'clock in the morning on October the 24th, if you want to know." 

Frodo's eyes finally opened and looked towards the direction of the familiar voice. 

"Albus!" 

"Yes, I'm here. And you're lucky to be here too. A few more hours and you would have been beyond our aid. But you have some surprising amount of strength in you, my dear Hobbit." 

"What happened, Albus? Why didn't you meet us?" Frodo asked, after he slowly sat up. 

"Oh, I am sorry, Frodo. I was delayed. A friendship with Saruman is not lightly thrown aside. He gave me a choice, either I embrace the power of the Ring, or die. I had luck on my side and went with death. I said that there is only one Lord of the Ring. Only one who can bend it to his will. And he does not share power. I then got up and walked off the edge of the roof and landed on the back of one of the giant eagles, who brought me here." 

"Albus? What is it?" Frodo asked concerned. 

"Nothing, Frodo." 

Later on, once Frodo was up and about looking round Rivendell with his friends, found Albus and Lord Elrond looking down at them all, from a seating area a little ways above the group talking. 

"That wound will never fully heal. He will carry it the rest of his life." Albus was saying. 

"And yet," Lord Elrond replied, as he turned away and walked off into his study, while Albus stayed where he was, "to have come so far still bearing the Ring... the Hobbit has shown extraordinary resilience to its evil." 

"It is a burden he should never have had to bear." Albus went on. "We can ask no more of Frodo." 

"Albus, the enemy is moving. Sauron's forces are massing in the East. His Eye is fixed on Rivendell. And Saruman, you tell me, has betrayed us. Our list of allies grows thin." 

"His treachery runs deeper that you know." Albus stated as he finally stepped away from the window and into Elrond's room. By foul craft, Saruman has crossed Orcs with Goblin-men. He's breeding an army in the caverns of Isengard. An army that can move in sunlight and cover distance at speed. Saruman is coming for the Ring." 

"This evil cannot be concealed by the power of the Elves." Elrond replied. "We do not have the strength to fight both Mordor and Isengard!" 

Albus turned away and walked back down towards the window. 

"Albus... the Ring cannot stay here." 

Albus looked out over Rivendell and saw a Gondor man ride through the gate, along with a few elves from Mirkwood and Dwarves. 

"This peril belongs to all Middle-earth. They must decide now how to end it." Elrond continued, as he made his way over to Albus. "The time of the Elves is over. My people are leaving these shores. Who will you look to when we've gone? The Dwarves? They hide in their mountains seeking riches. They care not for the troubles of others." 

"It is in men that we must place our hope." Albus replied, turning to face the Elven Lord. 

"Men?" Elrond turned away. "Men are weak. The race of Men is failing. The blood of Noumenon is all but spent, its pride and dignity forgotten." Elrond continued walking further into a new room, a room with a raised platform, on which stood a broken blade on a plinth and a large mural behind it. "It is because of Men the Ring survives. I was there, Albus. I was there 3000 years ago... when Isildur took the Ring. I was there the day the strength of Men failed. I lead Isildur into the heart of Mount Doom... where the Ring was forged, the one place it could be destroyed. It should've ended that day, but evil was allowed to endure. Isildur kept the Ring. The line of Kings is broken. There's no strength left in the world of Men. They're scattered, divided, leaderless." 

"There is one who could unite them." Albus stated. "One who could reclaim the throne of Gondor." 

"He turned from that path a long time ago. He's chosen exile." 

That evening Frodo was invited to a secret counsel along with Albus and Lord Elrond. 

"Strangers from distant lands, friends of old... you've been summoned here to answer the threat of Mordor." Lord Elrond stated, once everyone had gathered. "Middle-earth stands upon the brink of destruction. None can escape it. You will unite, or you will fall. Each race is bound to this fate, this one doom. Bring forth the Ring, Frodo." 

Once the Ring was sat on the column, in full view of all present, a man stood and started banging on about Isildur's Bane as he got slowly nearer to the Ring and tried to touch it, only to have Albus use the voice and in the old tongue scaring everyone. Putting them on edge. Elrond had his face in his hand. 

"Never before has any voice uttered the words of that tongue here in Imladris." Elrond spoke, with a piercing gaze at Albus. 

"I do not ask your pardon, Master Elrond..." Albus replied, taking a deep breath, leaning heavily upon his staff. "For the Black Speech of Mordor, may yet be heard in every corner of the West. The Ring is altogether evil." 

Soon it turned into an all-out war of words, everyone talking over the top of the other, only Elrond and Frodo were not speaking. Elrond looked put out, while Frodo was being affected by the Ring itself until... 

"I will take it!" He cried. "I will take it!" 

The babble stopped as everyone looked round at the Hobbit in surprise. A Hobbit was willing to take on the burden of such a journey? Albus had his eyes closed; the look on his face when he heard the boy the first time was of sadness. Though in his mind, he was crying with glee. 

"I will take the Ring to Mordor. Though... I do not know the way." 

"I will help you bear this burden, Frodo Baggins, as long as it is yours to bear." 

After that proclamation, it wasn't long afterwards that Frodo had eight more companions around him. The fellowship had formed. 

**\- RWT -**

A day later and the fellowship was ready to set off. 

"Mordor, Albus?" Frodo whispered. "Is it to the left or to the right?" 

"Left." 

Down the sloping entrance and over the bridge of Rivendell they walked, over hill and mountain. Past ruins, over scrublands far and wide.

"We must hold this course, west of the Misty Mountains, for forty days." Albus stated, as they made their way round the mountains. "If our luck holds, the Gap of Rohan will still be open to us. From there, our road turns east to Mordor." 

Eventually the group stopped in a craggy rocky outcrop at the base of the Misty Mountains, where Boromir was giving both Merry and Pippin fencing lessons, with Aragon sitting on a small boulder smoking his pipe and giving out pointers. Frodo and Sam were by the campfire eating some food, while Albus was sitting on top of a large rock six feet off the ground with Gimli the Dwarf talking to him. 

"I'd say we were taking the long way 'round. Albus, we could pass through the Mines of Moria. My cousin Balin would give us a royal welcome." 

"No, Gimli, I would not take the road through Moria unless I had no other choice." 

Just then Legolas jogged past the two and hopped up on to the lower rock next to them, he looked out on to the far horizon with his far-seeing eyes and caught a black mist on the cloud. 

"Crebain from Dunland!" Legolas cried. 

"Hide!" Aragon yelled, quickly taking a Hobbit and moving in behind the larger boulders.  
Everyone followed suit and hid themselves as best they could, just as the carrion Crebain flew overhead. When it was all clear, Albus was the first to step out. 

"Spies of Saruman. The passage south is being watched." He said, looking round at the others. "We must take the Pass of Caradhras." 

They all turned and saw the jagged snow-capped peaks of the mountain, it looked quite daunting even from down here. It took them the remainder of the day to climb up to the Pass, the snow was deep and thick especially so for the Hobbits. Aragon was a bit put out that Albus was making his way through the thick snow with ease, as he cleared a path using his magic, but that he didn't keep the snow from the path for the others to follow. No, as the wizard moved the snow in front of him, he simply put it behind himself making it even more harder for the others to keep up. 

Later the group were just passing under a craggy shelf, when Legolas walked past everyone up to the waist in snow, being an Elf, he was light enough to simply walk on the snow's surface without breaking it. 

"There is a fell voice on the air." He said. 

The voice was strong and spoke in an old tongue, Albus understood what was being said. 

_So, Albus, you try to lead them over Caradhras. And if that fails, where then will you go? If the mountain defeats you... will you risk a more dangerous road?_

As well as the speech there was also an incantation attached. 

"It's Saruman!" Albus cried through the blizzard from hell. 

Just then high above them the rocky shelf broke away, everyone ducked and fell against the wall of the narrow ledge path they were on. 

"He's trying to bring down the mountain! Albus, we must turn back!" Aragon cried. 

"No!" Albus was adamant, as he stepped up to the edge of the ledge and began to chant back into the Saruman's fell voice his own, only it didn't do any good. Lightning stuck the top of Caradhras and more snow and rock fell, Legolas quickly grabbed hold of Albus and pulled him back. This time the snow covered them completely. After digging their way out, Boromir said that they had to get off the mountain, make for the gap of Rohan and take the west road to his city. Aragon stated otherwise, that the Gap of Rohan took them too close to Isengard. 

"We can't pass over the mountain. Let us go under it." Gimli replied. "Let us go through the Mines of Moria." 

Albus looked at the other of the group before his mind shifted to something that Saruman once stated to him. 

_Moria. You fear to go into those mines. The Dwarves delved too greedily and too deep. You know what they awoke in the darkness of Kgazed-dûm: Shadow and flame._

Gulping at the thought, Albus finally spoke. 

"Let the Ring-bearer decide." 

Boromir stated the obvious if they stayed here. 

"Frodo?" 

"We will go through the mines." Frodo replied. 

"So be it." 

**\- RWT -**

They spent the best part of the late afternoon and early evening getting off the mountain. Once down, they made their way to the base of a black cliff under the ruins of an old bridge and with a black flat and eerie lake to their right. 

"Frodo, come and help an old man." Albus said. Together they stepped over the rock floor, Albus' arm round the boy's shoulder. "How is your shoulder?" 

"Better than it was." 

"And the Ring?" 

Frodo stopped and looked up at Albus. 

"You feel its power growing, don't you? I've felt it too. You must be careful now. Evil will be drawn to you from outside the Fellowship. And, I fear, from within." 

Just as Albus said that, he looked up at Boromir who passed by them. 

"Who then do I trust?" Frodo asked. 

"You must trust yourself. Trust your own strengths."

"What do you mean?" 

"There are many powers in this world..." Albus went on, as he looked at Frodo. "..For good or for evil. Some are greater that I am. And against some I have not yet been tested." 

"Ah!" Gimli gasped. "The walls of Moria." 

Albus and Frodo looked up at the black cliff face. 

As they all started walking along the pebble dash front, the walls on the their left and the black lake on the right, Gimli was talking and tapping his ax against the cliff. 

"Dwarf doors are invisible when closed." 

"Yes, Gimli, their own masters cannot find them if their secrets are forgotten." Albus stated, as he made his way along the path until he came to a tall smooth part of the cliff. "Well, let's see." He mumbled. "Ithildin." His hand ran over the carved indentations on the cliff. "It mirrors only starlight and moonlight." 

Just then the moon came out of the darkness and lit up the door leading into the mines. 

"It reads, 'The Doors of Durin, Lord of Moria. Speak friend, and enter.'" 

"What do you suppose that means?" Merry asked. 

"Well, it's quite simple. If you are a friend, you speak the password and the doors will open."  
With that Albus took up his staff and placed the tip on the door over the star carving and began to chant in Dwarvish. It did no good. For a long while Albus was unable to work out the password. Aragon racked up another oddity of Albus' to his ever-grown list, that something was not quite right with the man. If Gandalf had been here he would've been a lot better. Just where was Gandalf anyway? 

Just then Aragon trapped hold of both Merry and Pippin and told him to leave the water be. The water began to ripple. 

"Oh, its useless." Albus said, throwing down his staff and coming to sit by Frodo, who looked at the message above the door and stood up. 

"It's a riddle." He said. "'Speak friend and enter'. What's the Elvish word for 'friend'?" 

"Mellon." Albus replied. 

With that there was a great rumble and the doors opened. After putting a clear crystal into the top of his staff, Albus entered the mine followed by the others. 

"Soon, Master Elf," Gimli was saying to Legolas, "you will enjoy the fabled hospitality of the Dwarves. Roaring fires, malt beer, ripe meat off the bone!" Head of them Albus blew into his crystal and it lit up everything in front of him. "This, my friend, is the home of my cousin Balin. And they call it a mine. A mine!" 

"This is no mine." Boromir stated, looking around. "It's a tomb." 

He was right. The floor was littered with the skeletal remains of long dead Dwarf folk, still dressed in Moria regalia. There were arrows sticking out of breast plates. 

"No!" Gimli wailed. 

Legolas pulled out a thin black arrow from one of the dead. 

"Goblins." 

Again, Boromir stated that they should never have come here. That they should make for the Gap of Rohan, when Frodo screamed as he was taken from behind and lifted High into the air. Everyone ran back out and found a water creature. A kraken. Legolas fired an arrow into the creature's eye, as Aragon, carrying Frodo, Boromir and the others ran. 

"Into the mines!" Albus cried.  
The kraken came up the bank and tried to grab them again, only it blocked them inside the mines. 

"We now have but one choice." Albus said in the pitch blackness, his voice echoing slightly, as he tapped his staff and the crystal lit up again. "We must face the long dark of Moria. Be on your guard. There are older and fouler things than Orcs, in the deep places of the world." 

As they followed Albus through the remains and up a flight of steep stone steps, Albus continued on. "Quietly now. It's a four-day journey to the other side. Let us hope that our presence may go unnoticed." 

Into the mines proper they went, along a narrow windy path that took them deeper, it wasn't that great or magnificent looking. Where was this great city that Gimli boasted about? Further in perhaps. On and on the group walked. Round a bend and up some steps passing a carver archway, until they carefully made their way along a narrow ledge. On their left the walls and to their immanent right a sharp drop into blackness. As Albus' crystal shone everyone could clearly see an number of ladders all the way along the ledge, all going down into the black void below. Albus stopped and looked carefully at the wall on his left, touching it. 

"The wealth of Moria was not in gold or jewels... but mithril." He said, turning back to Legolas right behind him and the rest of the group, as he charged the Crystal with more magic, lowering his staff out over the ledge. Looking down everyone saw the amount of mining work that had gone on over the years and just how deep it went. "Bilbo had a shirt of mithril rings that Thorin gave him." Albus went on as he began to move off again, the others following. 

"Oh, that was a kingly gift." Gimli replied. 

"Yes. I heard that Gandalf never told him... but it's worth was greater than the value of the Shire." 

On and on they went long past the ledge and the mithril tunnels, then they were climbing again. Up a far greater amount of steep stone steps this time, riddled with skeletal remains, books and coins until they came upon a rocky outcrop at the top. It was cut into the rock face and had three carved archways all leading off in some direction. Albus stood there in front of them, his head moving between all three utterly unsure of which one to take. 

"I have no memory of this place," he said, then muttered darkly to himself, "not even with having seen Gandalf's memories of this place is helping! Merlin, this is ridiculous!" 

The companions all stopped and sat down for a while, while waiting for Albus to work out which way to go. Sam, Frodo, Merry and Pippin lit a small fire and had a bite to eat and off to one side sat Aragon and Boromir side by side smoking their pipes. Whilst Albus sat on one of the highest craggy rocks, his back to the others as he concentrated on remembering what he had seen in the memories. There had to be so bloody many of them! 

Frodo was sat closest to the edge overlooking the mines, when he stopped a something in the gloom making its way up. He hurried over to Albus. 

"There's something down there." He said. 

"It's Gollum." Albus replied. "He's been following us for three days." 

"He escaped the dungeons at Barad-dûr?" 

"Escaped..." Albus said, turning to face the boy. "..or was set loose. Now the Ring has brought him here. He will never be rid of his need for it. He hates and loves the Ring, as he hates and loves himself. Smèagol's life is a sad story. Yes, Smèagol he was once called. Before the Ring found him. Before it drove him mad." 

"It's a pity Bilbo didn't kill him when he had the chance." 

"Pity?" Albus asked, frowning slightly at Frodo. "It was pity that stayed Bilbo's hand. Many that live deserve death. Some that die deserve life. Can you give it to them, Frodo? Do not be too eager to deal out Death and judgement. Even the very wise cannot see all ends. My heart tells me that Gollum has some part to play yet, for good or ill... before this is over. The Pity of Bilbo may rule the fate of many." 

Frodo sat down heavily on the rock next to the wizard. 

"I wish the Ring had never come to to me. I wish none of this had happened." 

Albus thought then _Yes, if none of this had happened then I would still be in my own world, but no it happened and now I here in some Vagabond wizard's place!_

"So do all who live to see such times." He said to Frodo, putting some heart and soul into his speech - not that he felt like putting any in at all. "But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us. There are other forces at work in the world, Frodo, besides the will of evil. Bilbo was meant to find the Ring. In which case, you also were meant to have it. And that is an encouraging thought." Albus suddenly looked up at the three archways and cried. 

"Oh! It's that way." 

"He's remembered," said Merry, getting up. 

"No." Albus went on. "But the air doesn't smell so foul down here. If in doubt, Meriadoc, always follow your nose." 

With that he began to descent the stairs, the others following on behind. 

Out the other end of the tunnel they walked into a vast open space, with more steps down to a smooth floor below. Large bits of broken carved rock could be seen littering a part of the steps in front of them. 

"Let me risk a little more light." Albus muttered, as he made his down the steps and raised his staff, as he charged more light into the crystal. Gimli gasped, as did the others. 

"Behold... the great realm and Dwarf-city of Dwarrowdelf." 

Eyes wide and mouths falling open as everyone took in the grand scale of the aisled hall under the mountain. 

"Now there's an eye opener, and no mistake." Sam said, to no one in particular. 

They made their way through it, all the while looking up at the sheer magnitude of the Dwarves carving ability. As they passed an opening littered with skeletons outside the doorway, Gimli gasped loudly and ran in. 

"Gimli!" 

Into the room the dwarf ran, only to find a floor littered with more skeletons and a shaft of moonlight beaming down onto a pure white tomb. 

"No!" Gimli muttered, falling to his knees. "Oh, no." 

Albus and the others came in.  
"Here lies Balin... son of Fundin... Lord of Moria." Albus read. "He his dead, then. It's as I feared." 

Gimli cried and Albus handed his hat and staff to Pippin, before bending down and hefted a large old tome out of the skeletal arms of the closest remains and opened it at the last few pages. He blew away the dust covering the text looked through it. 

"We must move on." Legolas whispered to Aragon. "We cannot linger." 

"They have taken the bridge and the second hall." Albus began reading aloud. "We have barred the gates... but cannot hold them for long. The ground shakes. Drums... drums in the deep." He looked up at the others and turned the last page. "We cannot get out. A shadow moves in the dark." Pippin, spooked by Albus' Reading stepped backwards and continued to do so, until he backed into a skeleton sitting on an old well. "We cannot get out... They are coming." 

Pippin touched the amour of the skeleton making the head fall off and fall with a echoing thud down the well. As well as the rest of the skeleton. It fell, crashing loudly. Albus whipped round and stared hard at Pippin. They all heard the crashing continue for a moment of two before it finally stopped. Everyone stood there in silence, all praying that the sound hadn't woken anything. All was silent thankfully. 

"Fool of a Took!" Albus stated angrily as he slammed the book shut and snatched back his hat and staff from the Hobbit. "Throw yourself on next time, rid us of your stupidity." 

As Albus turned away from Pippin, a new sound echoed up from the deep. The beat of a drum. Albus turn back around sharply to face Pippin with a look that could kill. Everyone turned to face Pippin, or more so, the Well behind him as the drum beats got louder and faster. With the drums followed a weird screeching cackling sound. 

"Orcs." Legolas said. 

"Get back!" Aragon cried to the Hobbits taking charge. "Stay close to Albus!" 

Together, he and Boromir shut the doors and barred them as best they could. Behind them a strained roar greeted them. 

"They have a cave-troll." Boromir stated. 

Albus threw away his hat and removed his sword, as he got into his battle stance. Gimli climbed up and stood on top of the tomb of Balin, ax and sword in hand.

"Let them come!" He growled angrily, ready to avenge his cousin. "There is one Dwarf yet in Moria who still draws breath." 

It didn't take long for the ancient doors to be broken open. Very soon the battle was in full swing, Boromir went in taking out Orcs and Goblins, with Aragon not far behind. Legolas continued firing arrows in quick succession, before he pulled out his two swords. Albus too soon joined the action along with Gimli, whilst the four Hobbits tried to stay out of the fight as much as possible. In the end they couldn't stay huddled together and soon they broke apart and joined in the fight.  
A few minutes went by before the cave-troll stepped into the room, making the Fellowship members all stop for a second as their gaze fell upon it. 

Once again, the battle ensued. Boromir and Aragon tried to keep the troll at bay and away from attacking Sam, Legolas fired an arrow into it, which only made it angrier. Gimli threw his ax at the creature and had a successful hit, but the troll went mad and hauled his stone cudgel down on the Dwarf, who quickly jumped out of the way. Balin's tomb was smashed to pieces. Frodo, Sam and Merry went and hid behind one of the pillars, but the troll found them soon enough and trapped Frodo into a corner, before stabbing the boy with a spear.

Everything stopped and went in slow motion as Albus spun round his face half hidden by his hair as he stood there and looked on, hearing Frodo's pained cries. 

_Well, that’s that then._ Albus thought. _The end of this journey had come. The boy is dead, or soon will be and I can return to Hogwarts... But not without the Power behind the Ring, that would be the greatest asset in defeating Voldemort when he returns to power. Or any other Dark Lord after him, for that matter. That power would also do unto me what it did for the daft old codger Bilwo. It would prolong my life, and old age. I better go and do what I can for the poor boy._

With that thought, Albus, along with the others fought like nothing seem yet and battled their way over to Frodo. Legolas, with the help of Gimli was finally able to take out the troll. It wasn't long before the Orcs and Goblins retreated, if only for now. 

Much to everyone's surprise Frodo was alive and well, a bit winded but that was about it. 

"I'm alright," Frodo panted, "I'm not hurt." 

"You should be dead." Aragon replied. "That spear would have skewered a wild boar." 

"I think," Albus said, much to his annoyance but thankfully he didn't let his thinning patients show on the surface, "there's more to this Hobbit than meets the eye." 

Frodo looked at Albus oddly, before he undid his shirt. Underneath was a shirt of mithril rings.  
"Mithril." Gimli said with awe. "You are full of surprises, Master Baggins." 

In the distance, more screeching cackles could be heard massing up and making their way closer.  
"To the Bridge of Khazad-dûm!" Albus said hurriedly. 

With that they ran out of the room and back along the vast aisled hall of Dwarrowdelf, looking back every so often and finding Orcs and Goblins and a great amount of them at that running after them. 

"This way!" 

The Orcs and Goblins were coming out everywhere, up through the floor, out through the vaulted ceiling and down the pillars, or from every doorway possible. Soon the nine companions found themselves cut off and surrounded by thousands of circling armed creatures of the dark. Suddenly a roaring growl joined them and had Albus turn in the direction it came from. Out of the darkness came a vast glow of orange-red. The Orcs and Goblins were freaked by the new arrival and after shrieking like mad, that all dispersed and hurried away as quickly as they had come. 

**\- RWT -**

"What is this new devilry?" Boromir murmured to Albus. 

Albus had his eyes closed, thinking hard. 

"A Balrog. A demon of the ancient world. This foe is beyond any of you." Albus turned. "Run!"  
Everyone immediately began running, following the old man. 

"Quickly!" 

They ran off due west or there about through another archway and down some more steps. Then Albus came to a sudden stop, the stairs went down and down.  
Albus went and leant against the wall. 

"Albus?" Aragon asked, coming over. 

"Lead them on, Aragon. The bridge is near." 

Aragon made to grab the old man, but was pushed away. 

"Do as I say!" Albus replied angrily. "Swords are no more use here!" 

Giving a sharp reluctant nod, Aragon and Albus ran after the others as they made their way down and round the ever-descending stairs. That was until they came to a stop again as the stairs had broken away and apart over the years. Legolas jumped first and landed on the continuation of steps, turned and caught Albus. Ever closer behind them, the Balrog was catching up to them, and with it the old stonework began to crumble beneath it. It also didn't help that they were being fired upon from somewhere high up over them by a few Orcs and Goblins. 

Eventually everyone jumped across and they were quickly descending the stairs again. Soon they were at the bridge and Albus stood to one side and ordered them over the thin narrow path. 

"Over the bridge!" He commanded. “Fly!" 

Everyone ran over it and across and Albus was about to when a roar came out of the darkness, making him turn around. Sword and staff at the ready. Out of the billowing flames towered the horned devilry. The Balrog. Albus stood there looking up at the thing, before he turned and began his way across the bridge, the Balrog in hot pursuit. Halfway cross the bridge, Albus turned around to face the creature, when he felt the bridge start to give way under the vast shadow and flame foot. 

"You cannot pass!" Albus shouted. 

From where they were up on the steps leading out of the mines, Frodo turned when he heard the wizard's voice. 

"Albus!" He cried. 

"I am a servant of the Secret Fire, wielder of the flame of Anor." He raised his staff and the light that shone from the crystal was brighter the bright. "The dark fire will not avail you, flame of Udûn!" 

The Balrog wielded a giant flaming sword and brought it down on to Albus' staff. Sword and staff crashed together but that was all. 

"Go back to the shadow." 

The Balrog stepped fully on to the bridge now, this time with a flaming bull whip in its grasp.  
"YOU SHALL NOT PASS!" Albus shouted out again, this time using a bit of voice, as he brought both his sword and staff down together onto the bridge. Due to the magic in the staff it cracked the bridge and the Balrog fell into the deep, bottomless cavern below. Albus panted and turned away when the whip came up behind him and caught him round his ankle, pulling him over. 

"Albus!" 

**\- RWT -**

This was not the way Albus wanted to go out fighting, no, he wanted to go out fighting this Sauron guy. He sounded more powerful and much darker than Voldemort or even Gellert had ever been. Sauron and Saruman he wanted to stay and fight to the death with, not this shadow and flame creature! He knew that he could probably just apparate from where he was and was in the middle of turning on the spot, when that damn bull whip flame came up out of the bottomless void and caught him hard on his ankle, yanking him over the edge. 

"Albus!" Frodo cried. 

Knowing that he couldn't hold on for much longer, Albus made up his mind. 

"Fly you fools!" He called out hoarsely, before he finally let go of the remaining half of the bridge and fell into the void. 

With the first member of their fellowship gone, admits tears and exhaustion the remaining eight members fled the mines of Moria and into the thick dense woods of the Elven Realm of Lothlórien and home of the Enchantress the Lady Galadriel. There they were given reluctant shelter and after some hasty talk, were permitted to speak with the lady of the woodland realm.

Together they were all lead to a grand tree, where the branches spread out leaving a large flat platform area complete with steps leading to a dais. There standing with her back to them was a slender figure with waist length golden hair, dressed in pure white. The Lady Galadriel turned to her guests all lined up below her on the lower platform. Her eyes were a brilliant electric blue complete with stars as sparkles, she smiled at them all as she gave them all a penetrating stare that had some feeling love and joy, while a few others felt nothing but dread. Frodo being one and Boromir the other. 

"You have travelled far while carrying a heavy burden, ( _Your coming to us is as the footsteps of doom. You bring great evil here, Ring-bearer. Welcome, Frodo of the Shire... one that has seen the Eye!_ )" 

She stared long at Frodo's bowed head, as she considered what had happened.

"One of your number is missing, where is the Wizard, Albus Dumbledore?" 

"Albus Dumbledore did not pass the borders of this land," the Lady spoke. "He has fallen into Shadow." 

"He was taken by both Shadow and flame." Legolas replied softly. "A Balrog of Morgoth." 

"I will have to relay this to Gandalf, he will let Albus' people know." 

"Where is Gandalf, my Lady?" Aragon asked. 

Galadriel held her left arm aloft and together she and Aragon stepped off to one side, where they spoke in low tones. 

"He was sent to Albus' world to help your brother--" 

"My brother?!" Aragon said, shocked. "It cannot be, he died many years past. How can it be that Severus is alive?" 

"Yes, your brother is in that world and has been since he was taken and sent there. He, with Gandalf's help are hoping to better protect and guide a young wizard (whom Severus now sees as a son) from Albus the Manipulator's control, whilst Albus was sent here in Gandalf's place as a punishment. His trial was to stop being a master manipulator and simply help on this quest, Lord Elrond and I have been keeping a subtle eye on him since he arrived here. Hoping he would repent, but we have seen very little of him doing so. Though we still hope... Now, you will all stay here tonight and in the early morning you will take the boats to Ford of Amon Hen. Come." 

Still shocked to hear that his brother was alive after all this time, Aragon was too dumbfounded to do anything except follow silently along with everyone else, as they were lead to the roots of two large trees - their beds for the night. 

**\- RWT -**

At the bank they hauled the boats up on to the shoreline before heading off to make camp in among the trees, unknowing to all but one or two of the group, that they were being followed and had been so ever since leaving Moria. Frodo wasn't all that sure that they were being followed, though he did see odd little signs, like a steadily drifting log following them silently behind the boats. When they had reached the bank of the shoreline, he turned and was sure he had heard a slight grumbling mutter coming from the log, before all was quiet. Shaking his head and putting it down that he was imagining things, he made his way up the bank with Sam after the others. 

That afternoon in among the woods Frodo was looking for fire wood with Boromir, who Frodo had been suspicious of for a long time now. Boromir started saying how best the Ring would be for Man to wield, etc... he was beginning to breath quickly with desire and want for the Ring. He fought with the Hobbit, but was out moved when Frodo put the Ring on and fled under the cloak of invisibility. Once he was far enough away from the man, he pulled it off and found himself face to face with Aragon. Boeing something was wrong, Aragon tried to help the Hobbit, but even he could see that it wasn't working. Aragon knew that Frodo had a plan of sorts, but was interrupted from finding out more when a party of Uruki marched upon them. 

"Run Frodo!" Aragon exclaimed, taking out his sword. 

Frodo ran, whilst Legolas and Gimli went to Aragon's aid. 

Meanwhile Boromir along with Merry and Pippin were in the midst of their own battle against the Uruki. But they were outnumbered. Even sounding off his hunting horn made little difference, no aid came in the form of Aragon, Legolas or Gimli. Merry and a Pippin fought as valiantly as they both before being snatched up and carried off by two Uruki, whilst Boromir fought right to the very end. 

**\- RWT -**

Down by the river, Frodo stood on the shoreline the Ring in his hand, thinking. _I wish the Ring had never come to me. I wish none of this had happened._

Suddenly he heard Albus' voice as clear as if he was standing right next to him, echoing slightly as he replayed what the wizard had said to him in Moria. 

_So do all who live to see such times... but that is not for them to decide. All you have to decide... is what to do with the time that is given to you._

Steeling his resolve, Frodo made up his mind. 

After the battle and Aragon, Legolas and Gimli had sent a boat carrying Boromir's body down river, they got ready to move on once again. 

"Aragon, Frodo and Sam have reached the eastern shore, we must follow!" Legolas cried, pushing a boat into the water. He turned to face the Ranger when he didn't speak. 

"You mean not to follow them." The Elf continued. 

"Frodo's fate is no longer in our hands. Aragon replied. 

"Then it has all been in vain." Gimli went on. "The Fellowship has failed." 

"Not if we hold true to each other." Aragon continued. "We will not abandon Merry and Pippin to torment and death. Not while we have strength left. Leave all that can be spared behind. We travel light." He took a sharp short sword and sheathed it. "Let us hunt some Orc!"


	10. The Mists of Avalon

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _A short chapter, setting up the next one. Which will be longer._

..As the boat and its occupants continued their steady way over the furthest parts of the Blake Lake, the mist behind began to grow and soon it had covered the boat and everything around and in front of them. Harry could just make out Gandalf and Merlin behind him, and turning back to face the front, he could just make out Aslan's hulking form thanks to the light on the bow in front of them. 

Harry wondered what was happening; though he didn't feel the urge to panic... he didn't feel anything except calmness, which was a surprise in itself. He simply sat there listening to the soft ripples of water all around them, as well as listened in on Gandalf and Merlin when they spoke together in soft voices. It was rather peaceful, yet eerie. 

What felt like hours, but must have only been about fifty to fifty-five minutes, Harry felt the boat slow down. Looking up, he saw that the mist was receding and out in front, towering over them suddenly loomed ancient looking ruins upon an island surrounded by black water. Behind the ruins and the island was a continuous expanse of dense mist. 

Suddenly the boats weight lightened somewhat. Harry looked back down from the isle ahead of them to the bow of the boat, to where Aslan was, only the lion no-longer stood there. Standing in the lion's stead was a tall man of just over six foot, dressed in ancient regal material. 

He had long greying hair and as he turned slightly, Harry could just make out that he had a beard. Puzzled Harry looked behind him and found not an old man dressed in white and a rather large rabbit, but two old men who looked slightly similar to each other. 

Only Gandalf's white beard was shorter, than that of the older looking man's next to him. Merlin the Wizard had returned. So who was... Harry suddenly remembered reading a line from a muggle children's book on the legend of King Arthur. _..they say that when the world is in need of its Once and Future King, then Arthur would one day return with Merlin by his side._ Aslan was Ar-- 

The boat finally came to a stop and moored itself to the dock to Harry's right. Together the group got out and made their way onto the isle. Once they set foot upon the grass of the island, a hooded figure stepped out of the mist in front of them. 

"Welcome home, Arthur Pendragon; King of the Ancient Isles,” stated a voice that was warm, powerful, and feminine. 

"Welcome Myrddin Emrys and Gandalf Wizards wise and fare... and welcome to the Isle of Avalon Harry Potter, my wonderful, brave child." Harry looked puzzled at the last part of the cloaked figure's chosen words. 

A soft tinkling laugh was his response, and looking up he saw the figure lower her hood. Harry's eyes went wide. Lily Potter stood alive in front of him. 

"Morgan," Arthur replied.  
_Le Fay!_ Harry would've keeled over if Merlin hadn't come up behind him and wrapped his arms around his shoulders.  
"Let's go inside," Morgan/Lily went on, as she turned and led the group into the mist surrounding most of the isle and its ruins. 

**\- RWT -**

The group headed into the ruins. On the inside however the ruin wasn’t a ruin, but an all-out complete fortress, with blazing fires. Lit sconces lined the walls while regal looking, worn rugs in deep purples, reds and emerald greens with gold or sliver tassels lay on the floor. Lily led then down the entrance hall and into the great hall, where a long feasting table ran the length of the centre of the hall. 

To Harry, it reminded him of the Great Hall at Hogwarts, except here there was no raised platform and only one table. Though there, there was a door at the far end of the hall, which it appeared they were aiming for. Lily, or Morgan Le Fey, as she was known here on the Isle, opened it and stepped through holding it open for the others. 

They passed through this anti-chamber and out of another door and up a long and spiral staircase. At the top one by one they all entered into a regal, heavily fabricated room. It was, Harry thought, cozy. The fire in the large ancient grate was lit and blazing just like the ones he passed downstairs. 

"Welcome to my humble abode." Morgan said, in her gentle voice. "Please, make yourselves comfortable." 

Everyone sat down in the throne like chairs that were covered in animal hides. Harry sat down on the thick soft, deep purple rug with silver tassels on the floor in front of the fire. When Morgan frowned and offered him her chair, he shook his head and flushed and said that he was happy where he was. 

Morgan sighed; her dratted sister had a lot to answer for. However, she smiled at her son, nodded and retook her seat. She then clapped her hands and a silver tray of wine and sandwiches popped into existence in midair beside her. Another pop sounded and a small feast appeared on the floor beside Harry. 

Once everyone had, had a drink and something to eat, all the adults conversed about things that Harry already knew about and so he didn't join in, but sat there on the rug staring off into the fire not really thinking much: only really about how his mother could possibly be Morgan Le Fey. 

Arthur Pendragon's evil sister and murderer. But as he thought on it, he realised that nothing in the Wizarding World was as it seemed. Albus Dumbledore was manipulative and hungry for power, Voldemort was insane of the crazy loon variety, and not the power-crazed warmonger Dumbles made him out to be. And the fact that he was Harry's grandfather was weirdly inane. 

But Harry was beginning to accept that his life was becoming weirder and weirder. And now he was on Avalon, a supposedly mythical isle of the ancient world. With his mother as the most 'supposedly' powerful enchantress and on par with Merlin, and here they were talking with Arthur, the one true king, amicably like old friends. It was all so confusing. 

**\- RWT -**

When they adults had stopped conversing, Morgan broke away from them and stepped over and joined her son on the rug. She looked at him and him her. Both pairs of green eyes searched the other eagerly, trying to soak up the opposite’s images. In the end it was Harry who broke the silence. 

"How is it possible for you to be Morgan Le Fey and Lily Potter? Both lived at different times," he asked, giving what limited information he had.. 

"It's really quite simple, my son." Morgan replied. "I am your mother Lily Potter, as well as being the reincarnation of Morgan Le Fey. I have the power of the ancient world. That's how I was able to help you survive the night Dumbledore tried to force your grandfather into killing you. The Evans' may be born from a long line of squibs, but originally they came from the Wizarding stock. It's interesting our family. 

"My father and your grandfather Harry, is the man known as Voldemort today. I was taken at birth and placed with the Evans' who (I'm sure Dumbledore didn't realise this) are directly descended from Morgan Le Fey. The second daughter born or adopted by blood into the family is given by blood, every five hundred years the embodiment of Le Fey. I was chosen and on my seventeenth birthday I never looked back. Morgan's power was and now is a part of me, and has been ever since." 

Harry nodded, though it would take him some time for his mind to wrap itself around this new information about his family. He was related to Arthur Pendragon?! Oy, that'll take some getting used too. 

"Why am I here?" He asked. 

"War is coming,” Morgan replied softly, her green eyes sad. "Dumbledore is set upon having one, but this war will be far different from the one previously set. It will involve a great number of magical beings and not just beings from our world either. You must get help from at least two other worlds. The Narnians and the Underlandians, to name but a few." 

"The Narnians I get, but the Underlandians? I don't get." Harry replied. 

"Take of the ians and your left with a clearer answer." Morgan said, smiling. 

"Underland?" Harry asked, looking very puzzled. "Is there such a place?" 

"Petunia has a lot to answer for." Morgan muttered, then went on a little louder. "Have you ever read any books by Lewis Carroll?" 

"You mean, Alice In Wonderland?" asked Harry trying to comprehend what was being said. Everyone sat silently and waited. Morgan raised a brow pointedly. 

"Underla..." Harry said slowly. "Wonderland? Wonderland is real?!" 

Morgan smiled. 

**\- RWT -**

Once Harry and Morgan had finished their conversation about how to go about getting to these other worlds, the sun was rising in the east. It was time to head back to Hogwarts. 

Everyone said his or her farewells and Harry wondered if he would see his mother again. Morgan replied that he would see her again. Gandalf, Arthur, Merlin and Harry retraced their steps and made their way back outside on to the landing stage, where they had left the ancient boat. 

Harry noticed that it had turned around whilst he and the others had been inside the fortress. Everyone got onboard and the board began its slow motionless journey back to the mainland. 

As they departed the isle, Harry turned back and watched as the mists of Avalon swirled around the isle, swallowing it from view. He saw his mum, Lily/Morgan raise her hand a waved goodbye. Harry smiled and waved back until the mist engulfed the isle and the lone waving figure completely. 

**\- RWT -**

Meanwhile in the Great Hall of Hogwarts, it was breakfast time and everyone was sitting eating bar Harry, Gandalf, Merlin the rabbit, and Aslan the Lion, when the hall doors were blown open by angry magic and a group of people stormed in. At the front was a short dumpy woman, angrily brandishing her wand. 

"Where's Harry Potter?!" she said loudly. 

"He's not back yet from his errand," Minvera replied, as she stood up along with Severus. 

"When will he be back?!" asked the woman. 

“Whenever his boat lands," Severus returned. 

"Fine! We'll go and wait for his return down by the lake!" And with that the woman and her group all turned and left the Great Hall. Everyone sitting down looked up at the teachers, then to the retreating group, and decided to follow. So did Severus and the staff. 

Five minutes later everyone was standing on the bank of the black lake, staring out at the thick dense mist that was still covering the lake. Waiting. Watching. They were also wondering what the dumpy woman wanted with Harry Potter. Whatever it was, they wouldn't have to wait long to find out.


End file.
